Adrift - Floatation Device
by Princess Alexandria
Summary: Christy Taylor (oc) arrived in the world of Twilight during New Moon, and became a vampire immediately. Now she has to try and fit in, and when she goes to find the Cullen's for help she finds Bella alone. She decides to help Bella pull out of her depression and tries to teach her to be stronger, all while trying to keep her safe. (Bella/OC and Bella/OC/Tanya)
1. Chapter 1

Adrift - Doubling as a Floatation Device

Disclaimer: All characters and locations are the property of respective show or book creators, other than the ones that are all mine

Author: Princess Alexandria

Rating: T/R

**A/N: This is a reposting of a story that is part of an arc of stories. It can be read on its own, but you if decide you want to learn more about my character Christy Taylor, you will want to read her Xmen story ****Not Myself****. A version of her (or several) also appear(s) in ****500 Miles****. I have taken the character I created for the Xmen universe into other fandoms and they are all a part of the ****Adrift**** series of stories, of which this one is part of. I have put her in Star Trek Voyager, True Blood, Twilight, and Once Upon a Time so far. **

Author: Princess Alexandria

Rating: R

A/N: There are countless realities, endless subtle and not so subtle differences, and few are able to see or experience the full range that all realities can offer. Christy Taylor is one woman who can open the door to any reality she may want, but she isn't able to be sure what will face her when she gets there. In the Endless Possibilities, countless versions of herself are crossing worlds to try and find a place to call home, as she finds herself evicted from her original home. This is one story, one possibility, as she finds herself in a reality she'd seen in books and movies.

**Prologue – In an Xmen World, far far away.**

Christy took a form that was a good twenty years younger than what she was, because most of the people here were in their early twenties, but clearly not all. As a young college nerd, wearing dark glasses and an Xfiles tshirt she made her way into the convention.

"Miss the X on your clothes?" A blonde woman in her late twenties walked up beside her and spoke quietly, with a slight smirk on her lips. They both pretended to be looking over the list of upcoming panels. Christy took in the True Blood tshirt and tight jeans, before looking away again.

"Not too much." Christy glanced around subtly. The xmen turned on her, for the most part, when her dark past was revealed six months ago. "Which one are you?" She asked, but seeing the wicked tilt of the blonde's lips Christy followed it up with her guess, "Esme?"

"Not too bad shape shifter." Esme nodded and started to walk further into the convention, pretending to glance at the tables of materials. "We're all here. Annie has us guarding all the entrances." Esme picked up a Xena magnet and glanced at the price. "She's not happy with your idea."

"I don't have much holding me here anymore." Christy muttered and wandered away from the telepath on guard duty to try and work her way to the girl she'd taken in ten years ago. Her heart ached at the fact she had to call Annie for help, but Annie's luck power gave Christy the best chance she had to start over. It was Christy's own luck that even though Annie was shocked at the stories she'd heard, she was still loyal and caring.

Christy walked passed people dressed in Star Trek costumes, around tables selling Twilight materials, and their huge display of the wolves of Twilight were nothing compared to the werewolves Christy had seen, they were just extra large wolves. She made her way around a lifesize mannequin of a Terminator as she went deeper into the convention. It was hard to appear happy and excited about the Fantasy and Science Fiction Convention she was walking through, but she did slow her pace near some tables to appear to belong. She caught the eye of another blonde, this one wearing an faded looking Team Alice Cullen tshirt and wondered briefly if that was Sophie or Phoebe, both were Annie's lovers, but when she just got a nod she moved on to try and find Annie herself.

Every where she looked another table sat, more people with costumes, and posters filled with characters from movies or shows. A woman with black hair falling in waves to her mid back started to walk alongside her. Christy glanced to the side and was a little surprised to see the light green skin, out in the open. "I blend in better as myself here." Annie explained and glanced down at her Star Trek costume. When Christy glanced at it she noticed Annie blushed for a moment, before her face became more controlled and her eyes trailed over the floor below, from the balcony they'd stopped at. "I don't want you to leave."

"It's hiding or prison for me here." Christy spoke softer, seeing the young girl she'd taken in, hidden in what had become a rather confident woman before her. "I can count the number of people who want me to stay here on one hand Annie, and none of them can be around me when I have such a target on my head." Christy was surprised Annie even asked, even cared, with the disgust so many had voiced about Christy's past. Christy had carefully kept her past to herself, not even letting Jean know about it, but that new mutant had the power to project her greatest secrets into the night sky and they'd all seen her at her worst. Maybe if she'd admitted to it before then, but she hadn't, and now the Xmen were out for her blood, as if she could bleed for them. Her powers changed her body so much she didn't even know if she could die for them, but she was worried they wanted to find out. "I can't win this battle here." She spoke softly to the woman next to her. "And I'm just so tired of defending myself from them, and the government. Even if they decided to stop this now, it's too late. Once Scott called the government on my crimes, it was over. I can't ever go back."

"Scott and the Professor called me to ask if I'd seen you." Annie told Christy as yet another blonde came toward them, this one in a Team Victoria shirt, so Christy was going to bet this was the second lesbian sister and Annie's other lover. All the sisters looked identical, so it took work for Christy to tell them apart. "I told them no."

"Christy," The telepath spoke softly and then shared a concerned look with Annie. "If you want there to be lots of proof you've left, the news crew will be set up in a few minutes to film the convention." Christy wanted the audience, so that the government wouldn't keep looking, because she knew how they'd work. She didn't want the few people she cared about captured to try and lure her to surrender, and if she weren't there to surrender it would be worse.

"That's perfect." Christy muttered and Annie grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly.

"I want to try something." Annie's eyes seemed to plead for Christy to agree and Christy was startled when two people she didn't know started to come right toward them. "Raine can copy some powers and transfer it to another person, for a little while." Annie nodded to the redhead coming their way. "And Doug can boost people's powers, he can boost hers so you get more of mine." Annie turned to stare Christy in the eyes. "I want you to have some luck, bring it with you, to get you started in your new life. I want to give you that, so I don't have nightmares of what might be happening to you." Annie knew her too well, Christy thought, as the one argument she couldn't ignore was giving to her. "It's a longshot, but that's what I'm good at. Maybe this will help." Annie gave her a partial smile.

Christy wanted to hurry before they were caught, to make sure that the news caught her on tape leaving, and there were hundreds of witnesses to prove it, so that the new peace the mutants of this world had finally gotten from the American Government didn't end in the Governments greed for unlimited resources that Christy could give them. Her ability to open portals to other realities had already come up, and Mystique told her that she had better not be captured if she didn't want the government to turn her into a lab rat as they tried to mine other worlds for resources. Still she nodded her head for a questionable experiment that might not even work on her, as Annie looked at her with pleading eyes.

Raine held Annie and Christy's hand, and Doug stood behind Raine, apparently gripping her neck in a large hand from behind, resting on her vertebrae and hair. Christy didn't know these two, and wondered if Annie had hunted them down for her, because Annie didn't seem to hold that normal open expression she held near friends with them.

"Sophie." Annie spoke as the blonde's eyes widened.

"Military, coming in fast. We also sense the Xmen. This is going to be a battle if we don't move now." Sophie told them and Christy nodded, before giving Annie one last hug.

The scream of her power startled all the people on the floor below and Christy stood up on the railing, as the portal she could create to another world opened up above their heads. She waited until the cameras of the tv crews moved around to focus on the swirling light of her portal, and took one last look at the people of this world, dressed up as if from other worlds, and leapt at the portal, trusting the luck Annie filled her with to pick her destination. From a place like this, with reminders of so many different realities, which the people assumed were fictional worlds, Christy could end up almost anywhere.

Christy didn't want to land in something nearly what she'd just been in, didn't want to stare into familiar faces and wonder if they'd hate her like these people had. Christy wanted a completely different world. No more mutants. Thoughts of all the possibilities filled her mind and for once, she appreciated what her power could offer her.

The light around her finally changed as the exit to her ride approached.

Chapter 1

In the past week she'd not slept at all, and she'd stared at her red eyes several times. Her body looked like she had at twenty, and while she didn't age herself anymore, yesterday she learned that her current body sparkled in sunlight so Christy was pretty sure she'd managed to body snatch her double's body. The 'symptoms' told her all she needed to know. There wasn't a teenage girl who hadn't read Twilight in her last world, and most of the female teachers at the school, when she worked there, had read all four books. Apparently the 'her' of this world had been turned and when Christy came to this world she ended up as a vampire.

Christy tucked small boulders into the body she was about to toss into the water. Using more strength than she'd had in her own body, Christy tossed him out passed the end of the dock and hoped he'd be pretty decomposed before anyone found him. She walked away, counting the money she'd taken from his wallet. Several hundred dollars stared back at her.

That much money was enough for a cab ride, and that seemed a better idea than a bus or stealing a car. The cabby barely even looked at her when she got into his vehicle, and she just leaned her head against the side window after telling him, "Forks."

Christy was used to having powers, more strength and speed, somewhat better senses but what she had now was beyond anything she'd dreamed about. She was still adjusting to that and to the loss of her shapeshifting powers. Her mind drifted to the fact that she'd now eaten two people as a vampire and she'd need to eat a lot more to match her past record on her home world. She wasn't looking forward to that, to the need to kill to survive again. She was pretty sure she didn't need to eat as often as she just had, but she wasn't going to pass on the opportunity to help that woman, remove that monster, and perhaps avoid being hungry when she was surrounded by nothing but decent people. She was more than willing to kill rapists, but she was going to have to figure out if she could live on animal when rapists weren't available.

It made sense to her to try and find the Cullens, to see if they could teach her more. She also wouldn't mind meeting them, seeing if they were like her impression of them. With the Xmen, she'd anticipated the problems just as they happened, her mistake had been arrogance once she realized that no telepath could read her. Jean had tried and failed, so had the Professor. She'd kept her dirty laundry to herself and it bit her just as bad as she'd expected when it got out. Here she knew some Cullens might have trouble understanding her need to keep to the natural diet, or how she'd killed as a human, but they couldn't really condemn her like the Xmen had. Some of the Cullens had experience with killing people, and she was hoping to use that to build some acceptance.

"Where in Forks?" The cabbie almost startled her by talking and Christy raised her head from the window to glance at him. Once she saw he was glancing in his rearview mirror, she looked down so he didn't see her eyes.

"Just drop me off in town, main street, or whatever." She told him, and then finally noticed the freeway offramp that sparked his question. They were almost there. The book had been way too vague about where the Cullens would be, but the high school would be easy enough to find tomorrow, and the Volvo should stick out like a sore thumb. Christy smirked a little, imagining the golden eyed vampires faces when they came out from school and found Christy leaning on their car. A nice public hello seemed the safest thing to do. "You think they have a hotel?" She asked the driver and his grunt was not helpful. Christy grimaced, a shower before meeting might have been nice. She was also wearing the clothes she'd had on when she took over the body, and who knew how long her double had been wearing them before then.

He let her off on the street and Christy found herself staring at the ground as two different groups of people walked passed her, before she just ducked into a store to see if they had sunglasses. Better to look like an idiot wearing sunglasses in November, than advertise her red eyes and startle people, she thought.

The sunglasses were the first purchase needed, and she found some sitting on the counter at the front. Christy moved to check them out, looking for very dark lenses. The cashier glanced over at her as she was pulling a pair off the rack and the intake of breath was enough to draw Christy's eyes over in spite of herself.

The brunette girl looked pale, and Christy wondered about drugs for just a fraction of a second, because the teenager looked sick, washed out, and had bags under her eyes to make the permanent darkness under Christy's new eyes seem like she was well rested. She noticed all this before she took in the pure shock in the girl's eyes as she stared at Christy.

"Albino." Christy gave a weak smile and hoped it worked, even as she put the sunglasses on and glanced at the mirror on the rack. The sun glasses covered her eyes pretty well.

A pounding heart made her frown, and she glanced back at the girl, before noticing her nametag read "Bella". Christy's eyes widened and her head whipped around too fast to be human as she found the name of the store above the door. Newton's Outfitters.

"I don't hurt good people." Christy whispered, trying to get Bella's heart to stop pounding like that, once she realized why it might be doing that.

"You're, you're," Christy watched as Bella stammered and just sighed. If she'd really just been some vampire wandering through, Bella's reaction would make it impossible to ignore her. It wasn't a good move on the girl's part.

"Looking for some clothes too." Christy interrupted softly and glanced around, listening for any other humans in the area. "Nothing fancy," She thought about Alice and Bella's reaction to shopping. "But I've been wearing these too long. Any ideas?"

Bella blinked a few times, just staring. "Clothes?" Bella seemed to be trying to shake herself out of the fog that Christy suspected she was in. Christy was guilty of reading every last book too, and Bella clearly knew Christy was a human drinking vampire, that set this after Twilight, because her leg appeared to be okay so she'd healed up. Christy glanced at the pale skin and dark circles under Bella's eyes and could see the pain in her eyes as Bella took in the vampire in front of her. It made Christy's heart sink as she placed herself in the timeline, and it wasn't a good time to drop by at all. Christy had landed in New Moon territory, and there were no Cullens to help her now. "Ah, we have some really basic stuff here, but nothing," Bella looked pained. "fashionable, nothing at all." Christy could guess what vampire Bella was thinking about at that moment.

Christy leaned forward, her voice quieter, "I'm currently a bit of a nomad. I'll take durable over fashionable." Christy couldn't help but get the scent of the girl, and it was a bit better than the normal, but thankfully Christy was full, so she wouldn't have to struggle not to eat Bella Swan of all people. That would pretty much destroy her life in this reality. Christy glanced down at her shoes, which were not lasting very long. Running vampire speed destroyed shoes.

"There's hunting gear in the corner." Bella muttered before the girl's eyes widened and her skin paled even further.

"I guess there is that." Christy tried to wipe the small smile from her lips, but watching Bella's wide eyes was a tad amusing. Bella was clearing uncomfortable thinking about Christy and hunting in the same moment. "Okay, I'll check it out." Christy touched her sunglasses. "Should I pay for these first? I don't really want to take them off."

"Ah, you can wait." Bella looked like she didn't quite believe she wasn't dreaming, as Christy just nodded her thanks and moved to find the hunting clothes.

Christy was not too picky in her own world when there was nothing to be had, but she wasn't overly thrilled with the idea sticking out too much in this world, so she combed through the selection carefully for durable clothes that wouldn't look too odd on her. It didn't help that these were clearly men's clothes and getting her size was going to be a huge issue.

She smelled the girl as Bella moved away from the register and was standing awkwardly down the aisle from Christy. Looking as subtly as she could Christy watched a wide eyes Bella stare off to the side a little, before shaking her head and focusing at Christy again. Christy pulled a pair of pants off the rack to look at the side as she watched Bella hesitantly start to walk toward her, before stopping and standing still, looking confused , before she continued on toward her. "Um," Bella spoke so Christy turned to look at her. "Are you moving to Forks?" Bella asked and her heart was pounding again.

"I was considering it." Christy wondered if she should just say it, to spare the girl from the bravery she was about to try and show.

"This place has good people in it." Bella proved braver than she should be, and Christy found herself leaning back a bit into the rack of clothes behind her as she studied the girl standing up to the blood thirsty vampire. Edward was an idiot to think this one would keep herself safe, if there was even one person for Bella to try and save. "I know what you are," Bella looked like she might well get sick as she admitted that.

"You should never admit you know these things Bella." Christy scolded her softly. "I won't hurt you, but it could get you killed if you told the wrong person." Bella's eyes widened. Christy glanced over to see an older human looking at them, and it looked like the manager. "Do you think this place has any pants even close to my size?" She spoke a little louder, and then quietly added. "We're about to have company, and I really don't want to stick out anymore than I already do."

Bella stuttered a little, as she helped look through the pants, pulling out the smallest waist size she could find. "Is this close?" She asked as she handed it over.

"Good customer service Bella." The manager smiled over at Bella as Christy pulled the pants, along with a solid colored shirt, toward the single changing room. It didn't take long at all to determine it wasn't the best outfit in the world but it was better than what she had on. "We're rather slow right now, so if you want you could go home." The manager told Bella and Christy slowed her movements and spent some time just tidying her hair, to give Bella time to leave the place and feel secure that she wasn't being hunted.

Christy wasn't sure what to do now, and she sighed heavily at that while she made her way up to the register. It was November, it would be months before a Cullen set foot here again, and Christy didn't want to wander off and find a different vampire to talk to. She paid for her things on automatic as she also considered the problem of the wolves. They might not attack her if she claimed to be a friend of the Cullens, but she wasn't sure she could pull that one off.

She found a motel, the only one in town doubtlessly, and Christy checked in. She'd spent her entire week in this world wandering and figuring out where she was. Now she needed to plan. She took a long, hot, shower. She hand washed the clothes she'd had, and hung them to dry, before moving to sit, towel clad, on the bed and turn on the television. While she tried to catch up on the local news, for any hints to anything she might need to know or deal with, Christy flipped through the phone book that had been in the night table, and jotted down notes on the paper that had been left out with the free pen. Forks was tiny, but Christy was going to have to see what she could make of it. It did have a library, probably horribly tiny, but it might give her access to the internet.

It took two days of looking to find it, because the Cullens hadn't listed their address anywhere she could look it up. Given how girls responded to Edward, that was probably a good idea, but it meant that Christy had to resort to looking at a map and going over the land square by square, because the writer of the damned story only said it was on the outskirts and far off the road, so the only thing Christy could cross off in her search was the town itself. At least she'd only had to look at a third of the mapped area before she caught the old scent of something, which she assumed was other vampires.

The white house, the large windows, and the fact it was empty all told her she had the right place. The lack of electricity, the missing running water, told her she was camping there and would be bathing in the stream. Still, this would support her claim she was a friend of the Cullens and wolves shouldn't kill her.

The large home itself had lots of natural light during the day, it had some cloth covered furniture, and some of the closets had clothes that were clearly left behind, purposely. Christy went through the clothes and tried to find anything she could wear, even if she had to sew to make it work. She wasn't the best at that, but apparently Rosalie was her waist size, with longer legs, so it was something she could work with. There were some stains on some of the pants, but with shortening the pants a few would be salvageable. Looking at tops she ended up taking more from Esme, as Rosalie either stained hers or took them with her and Alice was too tiny. She also took some of Jaspers shirts, but even though Edward left a few she didn't take any of them. She might see Bella again and she didn't want to be wearing Edward's clothes when she did. That would send the girl into a complete mental break.

While she did steal out of various closets, she didn't snoop around, because she knew they would make her pay for that when she came back. Instead, Christy moved into Alice's room, the most likely to forgive, well other than Esme, but Alice's room got more natural light. She put her adjusted clothes in the monster closet, and they looked lonely in there, but it was going to be enough to last a while. She then closed up all but the living space, the library, and this room and its adjoined bathroom.

Once she had a place to stay and clothes to wear, Christy started with the second part of her plan. She went back into town to find some free internet access. She found out what she could about the her from this world and found her body was twenty one, and had been a vampire for thirteen years. She, herself was in her forties now, so none of her ages matched. She found a few potential leads for the Cullen's slightly underhanded lawyer type, so she would just need to amass some money and he'd hopefully be able to help her develop an identity. She looked for hints for where the Cullens were, and found nothing.

The more she thought about it, the more the realized perhaps she was better off without them here for now. Edward would have had them driving her off so she wouldn't be near Bella, and Christy needed to create some connections to create some sort of life. Of course, if she needed to make sure she wasn't driven off she'd need an ally, Christy considered, as she walked passed Newton's Outfitters on her way back to the house.

Stopping in front of the store, she glanced around and saw the old truck Bella drove. With a heavy sigh Christy wandered back into the store. Bella wasn't immediately visible, but her scent was in the air, so she was there somewhere. Christy wandered the aisles, seeing if there was anything else that would make living in an abandoned house more bearable. Perhaps a battery operated radio, she thought as she spotted one.

Her supply of money was getting low, but then she was probably going to go hunting in a few days and she'd see if her dinner had some cash. She was going to try drug dealer and see if those were edible, it would be another service to society to wipe them out.

"Hey." Christy spoke softly when she found the brunette stocking a shelf of bug repellent. Bella turned and her eyes went wide, her arms jerked toward her body and a rain of bug repellent sprays started to fall. Christy didn't even think about it, she moved forward quickly, grabbing the cans out of the air and putting them all back.

The pounding heart behind her almost distracted her from the last one. "Sorry," Christy turned to look at Bella's wide eyes. "didn't think you needed to get in trouble for me startling you." Christy glanced around and shoved her sunglasses up on her head, so she could see Bella without the color tint of sunglasses, and the girl was still an unhealthy pale.

"Ah, thanks." Bella stared at the shelf and then back at Christy. "You stayed."

"Yep." Christy didn't know what else to say, but she glanced around the store. "Found an empty house and I'm squatting for now." Bella looked puzzled at that. "Once you're a nomad it's hard to get out of that. I'm going to try and develop an identity soon, but that takes money."

"Why are you talking to me?" Bella sounded confused and a bit scared, so Christy tried to look friendlier.

"I get lonely." Christy sighed, thinking of how Bella was the only one she had any type of conversation with. She needed to get out more. The library didn't count, no one talked there either. "And I, apparently, don't have to lie to you."

There was an awkward, strange moment where Bella stared into her eyes. Christy wasn't sure what to think about that until the girl muttered. "Your eyes are getting darker."

If she could have blushed, Christy was sure she would be doing that. "Yeah, well, I'm still learning. I'm not sure how often to hunt. I don't want to eat too much." She gave Bella a weak smile.

"Are you a newborn?" Bella's eyes widened again.

"Eh, yes and no. It's complicated." Christy could hear someone coming closer and put her sunglasses back on. "So I need a battery operated radio. I'm roughing it and the silence is starting to get to me." She tilted her head at Bella and watched the girl's understanding grow.

"They are right over here, but you might want to go to the drug store for batteries. They are having a sale." Bella led her to the correct aisle. Her voice lowered. "You won't hunt here, right?"

"I was thinking Port Angeles or Bremerton." Christy muttered, thinking the best hunting grounds would have been Seattle, but she wasn't risking that city with Victoria there. She didn't see anything on the news to say she was there, but given the future, there was a good chance she was. "Course I'll need a map to find my way, I have to run. I don't have a car." She glanced around. "You have maps too?"

A half shocked laugh, that sounded more like a cough came from Bella's throat. Still she lead Christy to the maps after Christy grabbed up a radio. "You really don't lie to me, do you?" Bella muttered, sounding stunned, as she rang up Christy's purchases.

"No point, and I need someone to talk to." Christy planted that seed and smiled, before leaving Bella in the store. Her own honesty was a bit extreme, but it would draw the girl to her, she was relatively sure.

…..

"Now this is what I'm talking about Annie." Christy smiled as she stared down at the wallets she'd opened and put on the table. It felt too lucky that these men had apparently not dropped off their money for a few days and she thanked Annie's powers for her good fortune. She glanced up and looked around the room, taking in the damage she'd done. Three bodies littered the ground, but really, once she'd smelled the blood these men spilled she'd had a bit of trouble reining herself in. She'd have to burn the bodies to hide how vicious she'd been. They'd killed some guy, and she'd killed the two who did it.

It was a drug deal gone bad, and Christy glanced at the two bags and three wallets in her possession now. The bags of drugs were going to have to be destroyed, but the cash was a nice thick wad and she wished she had electricity or needed real food, because she didn't know how to celebrate her windfall now. She'd end up putting it in one of the dozens of shoeboxes at the house and waiting for a need. Perhaps she could see a movie or something? Get out of the house for a bit. Christy listened for cops or anyone, and then took a moment to count out the cash, before she slipped out to find something flammable enough to get things started.

Christy was never a fan of fire, so once the blaze got going, she moved to leave, her pockets filled with cash. She'd dumped the drugs on the bodies, to get rid of all the trash at once. Rapists were a bigger civil service, but Drug Dealers were better financially. Christy was going to have to remember that.

She made her way through the forest again, paying a lot of attention to where people were so she could avoid them, and also using the map. She had the money for a cab if she got lost, but she wanted to make sure she could get around. Logan had taught her how to use a map and get around, so she was walking up to the house by dawn, more confident in her ability to find the tiny town.

With little else to do Christy found the yard tools and spent some time raking up the leaves, and she considered that this could be why the majority of the vampires that used to live here went to school. Maintaining the house was really barely a one vampire job, and the boredom was nearly fatal. After she'd completed her work she started to think about that pile of cash she'd found and wondered what stores were in town. She wasn't a shopper so it was a surprise for her to find herself looking forward to checking out the other stores with some excitement.

This explained so much, Christy thought as she filled her tattered wallet with some money. The odd hobbies the vampires had in the book, Alice's odd obsession with shopping, it was all boredom. Christy was going to need to find a cheaper hobby than shopping, but she stepped out of the house in search for ideas, and perhaps some nice candles.

She ran through the woods for awhile, before stepping out to walk along the street closer to the town. She had time to kill, so she started to study the houses as she passed by, checking for names to see if she recognized any. She took in the yards and compared them to what she'd just cleaned up, and she listened for what shows were on the various televisions.

A rumble of an old piece of shit car turned onto the street from behind her and Christy moved to walk closer to the side of the road. The truck passed her and pulled into a driveway two houses down. Christy could smell how the truck was burning too much oil, and she could see the red rustiness of the thing. Her legs moved a little faster as she noticed the brunette hair and she smiled just a little. A police cruiser was parked on the street, but Christy knew it meant Bella's dad was home.

Bella got out of the truck and then was grumbling as she turned to face it and was picking up messy papers and shoving them into her bookbag. Christy made her way to the driveway and wondered if she should just pretend to not have found where Bella lives, if that would be better, but she was rather bored. When Bella fell backwards out of her car somehow, perhaps when she slipped on the leaves on the driveway that did it, but Christy was by her side quickly, catching her. "Careful." She muttered and Bella's eyes stared up at her, and continued to stare as Christy put the girl back on her feet.

"What are you doing here?" Bella whispered harshly and glanced at the police cruiser in the street in front of the house as if it were a disaster in the making. Christy got the sense that Bella didn't trust her around Charlie.

"I've already eaten." Christy sighed and leaned against the side of the truck as she studied Bella. "couple of drug dealers that had just murdered some doped up kid." She admitted, in case Bella thought it was something worse. She wanted Bella to understand she had standards for her kills. She always had, but that would be a longer and more unbelievable discussion, so for now they'd just talk about vampire things.

Bella seemed to pale a bit, but she gave Christy a searching look at the same time. "You try to only kill bad people?"

"I've told you this." Christy frowned as Bella seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"Have you ever thought about switching to animals?" Bella asked her and Christy was a bit surprised, but then the girl did know vampires before. She was adapting quickly to being able to talk about these things.

Christy was about to answer her when the front door opened. "Bella?" A man's voice yelled out even as he stepped outside. He looked over their way and then was clearly surprised Bella wasn't alone. "Oh." He took a few steps out. "You brought a friend home?" Charlie started to smile and Bella seemed to fidget a little.

Christy glanced at Bella and spoke quietly as her father made his way over. "My names Christy."

"This is Christy." Bella motioned to Christy as her father came to a stop nearby. Christy gave him a smile. "Christy, this is Charlie, my dad."

"Nice to meet you sir." Christy gave him a nod, but she could see he was put off by her sunglasses. It was still daylight out, but rather overcast. She made sure to push her sunglasses up as if she were still awkward about wearing them, but she said nothing about it. That was a trick she'd learned over the years, he'd see she was insecure about that and be less inclined to bring it up.

"You too." He studied her and then seemed to search Bella's features for something. "I don't believe we've met."

"I'm new here." Christy really wished she'd had time to talk to Bella more before this happened. Her needed cover wasn't something she could just blurt out in front of the girl.

"Do you go to school with Bella?" He asked and Bella let out a huff of air.

"No, I'm graduated already." Christy glanced over at Bella, and hoped this was going to work. "Bella's been really nice and offered to help me find the stores I need in town."

"Really?" Charlie's smile grew and Christy watched Bella blush, she could even smell her blushing. "Don't let me keep you girls, you have fun. Bella, you need any money?"

It almost looked like Christy's gamble was not going to work, as Bella looked stunned, and then it did work. "No, I'm fine, I don't need your money." Bella stared down at her bag. "I just needed to see if it was alright with you, because really, I have homework and we might miss dinner" Christy could see Bella was trying to get her dad to reconsider her permission to leave with her.

"No, don't worry about it. I'll order pizza. In fact, I insist you take some money and you two girls go out and get a bite to eat." He whipped out his wallet and Bella seemed to stand even more tense than she was before as he handed her twenty dollars, "You pay for dinner Bells, as a welcome to town gesture." Charlie looked very happy and glanced back at both of them a few times on his way back into the house.

"Does he often push you to spend time with strangers?" Christy asked as she stood there, wondering if Bella would find an excuse to not go now. She watched Bella taking a few deep breaths and staring off to the side and wondered if Bella was considering her dangerous. Perhaps too dangerous. "Oh, and you don't need to pay for my dinner, I couldn't eat another bite." She gave Bella a small smile and watched the girl blush.

"You want to go shopping?" Bella asked, staring at her.

"Not clothes, I'm good for those now." Christy watched Bella start to relax and wondered what the hell Alice did to the girl. "Just some candles, maybe I could find something to do with myself. I need a hobby or I'm going to be the first person to die of complete boredom. I didn't grow up in a time before electricity and I don't know what to do now that I am stuck without it."

"Do you like to read?" Bella asked and Christy gave a half hearted shrug.

"What do you do for fun?" Christy asked, while glancing into the truck. She could see the gaping hole that had held a radio that the Cullens got Bella and knew Bella would be stumped by that question. Maybe she could make Bella do something for fun, anything. Bella didn't answer her, but she did get back in her truck, so Christy smiled and ran at a human speed to the passenger side.

The truck of the car smelled strongly of Bella, but with Christy having fed recently it was just pleasant but not hunger making. She sat back and waited for the human girl watching her to start up her truck. "I really appreciate this. I was heading to do it by myself, but I haven't had anyone to talk to in far too long and this is always more fun with someone else." She glanced back as Bella backed out. Christy pushed her sunglasses up and relaxed into the seat as they took off.

"Why candles?" Bella asked as Christy was trying to figure out which candle smelled the best. She was having to work hard to distinguish one candle from all the others, so she was very absorbed in learning how to use her advanced sense of smell.

"The place is dark and creepy at night." Christy held out a candle to a very confused and lost looking Bella. "Do you think this smells good?" Bella took a tentative sniff and nodded, as if she really wished she hadn't been asked. "I can't get the electricity turned on, because it isn't my place, and I don't legally exist." The cashier of the shop was far enough away for Christy to say that.

"What about a flashlight?" Bella set down the small figurine she'd started to play with.

"All night?" Christy sighed. "I'm awake all damn night. I don't think I can tell you how much that sucks when I don't have anything to do. I've tried to learn to meditate to see if the time goes by faster, but it doesn't."

"You said you were a newborn?" Bella asked even quieter and Christy paused, considering how to answer this.

"That's complicated. How about I answer that one in the truck." Christy anticipated that wasn't something she could answer briefly, there would be questions, and maybe some disbelief, even though Christy didn't plan to go into more than she was from a different reality.

"Why don't you get a lantern." Bella asked and Christy gritted her teeth a little as she considered that. "You could read by that."

It was a better idea, she just hadn't thought of where she could find that. Every town had candles. "Do you know where to get one?"

"My work." Bella sighed. "But if Mike is there he's going to want to talk."

"I should probably tell you my cover story." Christy considered as they started to leave the store. Eventually someone was going to ask, and they should have this down. "But I'm concerned you won't like it." Christy stopped outside of Bella's truck and stared at her. "Is it cold?" Christy asked, as she saw Bella tug her coat tighter to her body.

"yeah." Bella gave Christy a hint of a smile, and unlocked the truck. Christy waited for Bella to reach across and unlock her side before slipping in. "So what's the public story?" Bella asked as they sat and Bella turned the truck on to get the heater running.

Taking a deep breath Christy decided how to approach this. "A lone vampire isn't always safe, even here. I need to claim to have some sort of a coven for protection." Christy spoke slower, conscious of what she shouldn't tell Bella yet, basically about the wolves. "I'm claiming to be a cousin of the Cullens." Bella started to lose some of her color. "And I'm squatting at their place to make it seem more real."

Bella curled forward, her arms wrapping around her torso in a way that looked more than slightly disturbed. Christy felt uncomfortable with how Bella's heart was racing. With Bella this lost in pain, Christy thought it best to ignore that she shouldn't know some things and get some things said now. "I need the safety of their name, I'm sorry. I know they hurt you, but if I stay in Forks, I need to be able to claim them."

"Do you know them?" Bella asked quietly, whispering it. "Do you know where they are?" it hurt Christy to hear the hope in Bella's voice was barely there, to hear how even saying this much seemed painful for her.

"No, I don't know where they are." Christy sighed heavily. "I'm not taking their name, I don't actually know them so that seems rude. I'm going to keep my own last name. It's been long enough since well," Christy frowned. Her policy of honesty with Bella was already overwhelming her. "I'm going as Christy Taylor." She stated simply, watching with concern as Bella was focusing on her own breathing. "Oh God girl," Christy didn't know what to say.

Bella was abandoned by her boyfriend and his family, Christy was abandoned by most of the people of her last world and was completely alone here. She had to remind herself that Bella was young, inexperienced, because the way she was falling apart seemed overkill for her problems. "I was driven away from my home by the people who claimed to be my friends. They were out to lock me up and wouldn't even listen to why I did what I felt I had to do. They abandoned me and hunted me until I finally had to leave to survive." Christy spoke quietly. "My life, the life I was starting to build with them, was destroyed in one night."

Bella didn't look at her, but she managed a weak question. "Why?"

Christy glanced down at her body, catching the irony of it just now. "Because they thought I was a monster."

Bella raised her head, and Christy could see her watery eyes. "You aren't a monster." Bella whispered and Christy was grateful Bella believed that. She hesitantly scooted across the large bench seat and tentatively touched Bella's shoulder in what she hoped would be a comforting manner.

"And you ARE special." Christy whispered back. She slowly rubbed Bella's shoulder, thinking of what Edward had done to Bella, how he'd, in his utter ignorance and thoughtlessness, cut Bella's self esteem to the quick and left her with no one to trust, to talk to, because the truth would need too much editing, no one would understand what she'd lost. It wasn't just that boy, it was her whole future. Christy had lost her whole future a few times. She carefully reached around and hugged Bella to her. "Very special." She muttered into Bella's hair and ignored how at this close even not hungry, Bella smelled very edible.

Once Bella made the least motion that she wasn't comfortable with Christy so close, Christy was on the other side of the truck. Bella's breathing started to get worse, rather than better and Christy watched it helplessly. "I wanted to be with him forever." Bella muttered, the word 'him' sounding awkward and wrong, as if the name had long since been outlawed, but there was nothing else to call him.

It was not her best thought out response, but Christy stared at Bella. "If you want him, I can't do anything about that, but if you want forever, I might consider giving it to you." Bella gaped at her in clear shock. "But you'd need to know what you were getting into. I'd show you everything, make you think about everything, and if after all of that you still wanted forever, it is your body, your life, and I would let you decide." Christy knew that Bella was going to be a vampire in less than a year regardless of what she did, but Bella deserved to have some control over her own life. Now Edward wasn't going to be able to hold it over her, because Christy wasn't going to let him dictate what she did for Bella, like his family did.

"I won't kill people." Bella stared at her and Christy almost smiled at the trust that question implied, because Bella talked as if it were a done deal.

"Then you are going to have to learn to identify endangered species, because I won't be a part of killing off an entire species." Christy spoke seriously, making Bella's head tilt in confusion. "I don't hunt animals because I have a moral problem with that. I thought about it, I considered it, and I dismissed it. I feel I'm doing more good for society by getting rid of those humans causing damage to the whole, I'm protecting their future victims. But I also have a problem with controlling other people, not letting them make their own choices. If you'd want golden eyes, and I'll admit," Christy grimaced and tapped her sunglasses. "They fit in better, then you just need to not decimate species that have done nothing wrong." Christy sighed. "But this is all pointless now, you need time and information to make a decision like this. Granted if you decide you want me to turn you, I will," Christy's willpower was extreme when she wanted it, "But it hasn't been decided you want that yet, until you can grasp all the drawbacks and," Christy could see some argument in Bella's eyes, "All the rewards."

"You would really do that?" Bella asked quietly.

"I've lost my own future a couple of times, watched my hopes and dreams burn, and I understand. If you decide that being a vampire was the path you belonged on, then I'll help" Christy answered softly. "but if you decide to stay human, I won't just disappear. " Bella took a shaky breath and Christy was surprised that Bella reached across the bench seat to take her hand. Bella's hand felt warm and fragile in her own. Bella's grip got stronger and Christy gave Bella as gentle a squeeze back as she could. Christy gave Bella a hopefully reassuring smile and let Bella think, even as silence filled the cab of the truck.

"I don't know if I'd want forever without him." Bella's voice cracked.

"And you don't have to decide without hearing all the details. I have time to give Bella, lots of time. So much time that I've even considered what would be good to do before being changed." Christy felt Bella tense.

"Human experiences?" She didn't sound overly happy with the term.

"No, just preparation." Christy shook her head. She understood Edward had painted humanity as the perfection he'd never achieve, but really, to assume all humans would want the same thing was ridiculous. "Give it time, think about it." Christy glanced at the street. "Let's get me a lantern, a hobby and you some dinner. We don't need to do anything more than that today."

Bella sat in the driver's seat, fidgeting and looking a bit lost, but Christy did notice with some satisfaction that Bella's eyes looked more alive, she looked more alive. That was what controlling your own destiny looked like, and it looked good on Bella. At her age she really should be seeing endless opportunities for her future, not the devastation of all her hopes and dreams.

"What hobbies are you thinking of?" Bella asked her and Christy smiled as she sat back and listened to the girl start up the truck.

"I don't know, I've always wanted to learn how to write or draw. I wouldn't mind learning an instrument." Christy had usually been busy with jobs and training, endless training. Her powers and position had demanded she learn a little about a lot of things. "What about you?"

"I don't," Bella sighed heavily, "I used to read."

Christy took note of a dance studio that had an advertisement for Tai Chi outside of it. "I think we need to start training your body, that would be good whether you stay human or not." Christy turned and grinned at Bella. "You want to look your best when you're changed. Be as strong as you can be, it can only help." And Christy knew enough to know that physical activity would help with Bella's depression too, so she needed to get that started as soon as possible.

Bella looked pretty doubtful, but Christy knew how to sell this. "Tai chi helps with balance." She didn't even mention the other benefits, she just let that stew. "I believe I saw lessons were starting up in January." It was early December, so that seed had a little time to grow.

"Oh God, do you think I'd be clumsy as a vampire?" Bella asked as they waited for the chance to turn at the light.

"That would be unfortunate." Christy smirked just a little as she stared out the window.

Once they got to the store Christy could hear the boy talking quickly to Bella as Bella stood by the register waiting for Christy to pick her lanterns and bring them up. Bella had been ready to go with her, but that Mike Newton was hissing his whispered questions louder and louder. It turned out to be a good idea to tell Bella her cover story. Christy slowly wandered up, hoping Mike would finish staring at her soon. The teenage boy was made of nothing by hormones, as far as Christy could tell.

"Hello, I'm Bella's friend Mike." He smiled at her and Christy resisted the urge to lower her sunglasses and scare the boy silent.

"Yes, well, I need this rung up." She pointed out her purchase and gave him a toothy smile, remembering that in the book the Cullens seemed to think that scared people off. Mike's eyes widened and he almost dropped one of the lanterns.

"Ring up three bottles of oil." Bella muttered and disappeared for a few moments. Still, Bella had time to go get what Christy forgot and come back before Mike managed to finish ringing her up. He had stopped his flirting and was now eager to get her out of the store. Christy didn't mind that. It also helped to keep him from bothering Bella as they left.

"That wasn't very nice." Bella spoke up quietly as they stepped outside.

"He didn't piss himself, so I think I was rather tolerant, considering he'd already imagined me naked at least twelve times." Christy sighed and pushed her sunglasses up as they moved to get into the truck.

"How did you know? Can you read" Bella's words trailed off.

"No, that's a guess." Was all Christy said as she carefully set the lanterns on the floor of the truck. "What do you want for dinner?" She did her best to pretend she didn't see Bella's stricken face, as Bella was reminded of Edward. Perhaps when he got back, Christy might try beating some sense into his head, but first she'd need to do that to Bella.

"I'm not really hungry." Bella whispered and Christy sighed and stared at the girl. She considered ordering her to eat, demanding it for what she was considering doing for Bella, but that was not a good route to take. Bella was wearing somewhat baggy clothes, that Christy suspected fit her two months ago. It was a tense silence, as Christy could see Bella waiting to be ordered around by the vampire. That's when she made up her mind not to do that.

"You feeling safe enough to park in some secluded place alone with me and hear why I am and am not a Newborn?" Christy had planned to give Bella the briefest version of the story, but decided to bare a little bit more. It wasn't really using guilt and submission to control the girl if she focused on the girl's need to help and compassion to get the girl to at least start to act like she was living, until she was actually living again. She'd tried for Charlie, stopped staring at the wall all day long in a catatonic haze for him, Christy read that in the book. Now Christy wanted her to take that to the next level, and do it earlier than she did in the book. Bella also had to see that people could lose a lot and still survive.

Christy had to consider that, and while Bella drove off to a park access parking lot Christy did. Bella, in the book, snapped out of it with Jacob, in her attempt to do enough thrill seeking to hear Edward's voice. That wasn't the route Christy wanted. Still, perhaps some strong emotions, some experiences that are well beyond Bella's norm, might be helpful. Christy would have to consider that as she worked on the steps she'd take to get Bella ready for the vampire life.

No one was parked nearby when Bella stopped, and Christy was a little impressed with the level of trust this remote of a location showed. Christy could kill Bella slowly out here and no one would ever hear it and yet Bella didn't seem to even consider that. It felt a little good to not have to earn her trust very much, to just be given it. Hopefully it would still be there after this talk, and if it was then Bella was going to be the first person Christy told even this much to voluntarily.

Christy had learned her lesson in her last world, and just a few allies from the start when the truth came out, just a few who might have known about it ahead of time, would have been able to stop the situation from escalating as quickly as it did. Christy hated to think that if she'd been able to deal with her shame and trust issues, she might still be living in her last world. Here, Bella was an odd choice for that person, but strangely she was the right choice.

"This isn't an easy story to tell, and it will sound like pure fiction." Christy sighed as she moved to lean her back against the door of the truck and curled her legs in front of her while she stared at Bella. Operation shock Bella into consciousness was going to start off with a Bang.

"Most people think vampires are fiction too. I'm used to strange." Bella gave her a hint of a smile while copying Christy's pose so they could talk face to face. Christy just gave Bella an indulgent smile, she thought she was in on more of the worlds secrets than she really was.

"First thing I need to do is explain how I can be both a new vampire and not." Christy sighed and stared into the brown eyes watching her. "I have a power that allows me to travel into different realities. I haven't used it too often, and I wasn't aware that if I showed up in a reality that had me in it, I could 'become' that me." Bella looked confused as hell so Christy took another shot at it. "When I traveled to this reality I merged with the vampire me that existed here. I took over her body and suddenly I am a vampire, so I'm new at this, but still this body has been a vampire for about thirteen years."

Bella was quiet for a while, and then she spoke, "So you possessed yourself?"

Christy smiled at that, seeing that Bella was getting it. "Yes. In a way I did."

"How are you able to travel," Bella looked a little paler to vampire eyes, but it might not be too obvious to a human.

"I've been to three realities now." Christy started to explain. "In my home world I was human, or I thought I was just human." She stopped. "Are you sure you want to hear this. It is really not a happy story." Bella looked sympathetic and somewhat apprehensive. "I still have nightmares from what I went through over ten years ago. You might not be able to sleep tonight."

"I barely sleep as is." Bella finally muttered, under her breath. "Go ahead."

"My world was normal, a lot like this one would be like if there were no supernatural creatures" Bella's attention was fully on her. "And one day the news broke that an Asteroid was heading straight for our planet. It was large enough to kill all life on Earth, and there wasn't anything that could be done to stop it." Christy focused on the facts and could tell her voice was losing emotion, but she left it at that, because Bella's eyes were widening in shock. "They told us too soon, and society collapsed. No one went to work, people started looting, there was violence." Christy shook her head. "I lived in Washington state, just a few hours from here actually. Many people moved away from here, because there was a rumor that there was a compound or something in the Midwest where the rich and famous were going to go to survive. I didn't believe that, and even if it was true I knew I wasn't going to get in." Christy sighed.

"My mother and I stayed at my house, keeping quiet so that the patrols that still went through the area wouldn't find us, because the military in the area became the biggest threat we had. They stole, raped, and killed where ever they went. The power went out, the gas for cars was used up, and no one was replacing anything. I scavenged for food in the neighborhood and at the store, rarely running into people, but it wasn't enough and mom got sick." Christy had to stop talking for a moment and took a few breaths. It was odd to feel that she wasn't making any tears when she could feel her bodies need for it, but her vampire body didn't do that. "She decided to make sure I had enough supplies to survive however long I could, by committing suicide. I buried her in the backyard." Bella had tears for her and Christy watched Bella's tears fall.

"My brother was trapped in California and so I was alone. Eventually I found a group of people to join, a tribe of sorts. There were a few tribes of people here or there, and we had around a hundred people." Christy swallowed hard for a moment. "And the military was still a threat. I was on a team where we scavenged for food. As time went it got harder and harder, and I had to watch people die, children die, because I couldn't find any food. I had to bury them in mass graves."

"Oh god." Bella whispered under her breath, and Christy paused to collect her thoughts and debate about what next to reveal.

"I had to become a monster to make sure I didn't have to watch anyone else starve." She stared down at her pale hand and gave a humorless chuckle. "There was no food, but even before I was a vampire, I knew one thing. Humans were edible." Bella gasped and Christy prayed the girl wasn't going to try and run. "I took my team out and we found the raping, murdering bastards that claimed to be our military and we killed them so that our tribe could survive. It worked. The deaths in our tribe dropped off, and we made it to see the asteroid hit the planet." There was so much more to the story, but no point in sharing it all, the worst was out there. "And that was when I found out I was something other than human, that I had the power to leave my doomed world."

Bella looked stunned and Christy stopped talking even though she wasn't at the end. She just stared at the girl, waiting. The longer she waited the more she started to wonder if Christy's story alone was enough to put Bella back in that catatonic state she'd been in right after the Cullens left.

After the silence went on for too long, Christy couldn't stop herself from whispering. "I only resorted to cannibalism for the others. I didn't want my life enough to do it for me. I became that monster for the people under my care, and for the longest time I lied to them about what they were eating. They banished me when they found out, but some people came with me, because this monster could keep them alive and safe. When I left that reality I landed in another world, and I didn't tell them, but when they found out anyhow, they too banished me. But they decided that wasn't enough and they started to hunt me everywhere I went, wanting to imprison me. They didn't even ask why I would do that before they started the man hunt. I had few friends, but when one of them got hurt trying to cover for me I realized that I now had to do something else for the people I loved. I had to leave, before anyone realized that all they needed to do to catch me was to go after the people I cared about."

When Bella still looked stunned, though she did move enough for Christy to figure she wasn't in danger of a catatonic episode, Christy sighed heavily. "Get something to eat before you go home, and you can tell Charlie you dropped me off at my place." Christy shifted to open the passenger side door and slipped out, before turning to look at Bella again. "You know where I live. If you want to see me, you can come there."

That had Bella looking into her face, but when Bella's mouth opened and nothing came out Christy gave up on getting any response today. Hopefully some day, but Christy had gambled for the first time and it wasn't looking good. "Bella, I know they hurt you when they left, and it felt like you lost everything, but I want to tell you that I really have lost everything, twice, and it can be survived." She closed the truck door solidly and then turned towards the woods. She'd find her house, but it would take a bit of work.

As she started into the forest, a truck door flew open and Bella's heart was racing. "Don't leave me, don't leave me." Bella's voice started as a whisper, but it grew louder and Christy turned to see Bella stumbling after her, eyes wide. The way Bella looked, Christy wondered if Bella was seeing Christy or remembering Edward walking away.

Christy stopped walking and watched with some concern as Bella moved faster and slammed into Christy's body, wrapping her arms around her neck to keep from falling. The scent of the girl enveloped her and Christy found herself wrapping her own hands around Bella's waist to keep the girl upright. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Bella muttered, and Christy's neck was getting wet with the girl's tears. "You told me it wasn't a happy story, but I had no idea." And it wasn't until Bella said that, that Christy believed that Bella even knew who was in front of her, who she was talking to.

Bella had raced after her like that, Christy thought with a bit of shock. The girl barely knew her and had just heard the worst of Christy's past, and she'd raced after her. Christy hugged Bella a little tighter to her own body after that thought went through her mind.

Bella tugged on Christy's hand, to try and get her to come back to the truck. "Please, don't leave. I didn't mean to not say anything. I just couldn't imagine anyone could hurt that much and still be alive. I'm so sorry that happened to you." Bella's eyes pleaded for forgiveness and Christy was still stunned at the response. She followed Bella back to the truck and got in.

"Thank you." Christy spoke softly as they stared at one another again. "What do you want for dinner?" Christy asked, as she found that hard conversation was over and neither of them really wanted to talk about it now.

Christy could see the comment of not being hungry cross Bella's eyes, but her mouth stopped it and there was an odd looking pause, before Bella spoke, "I could get a sandwich at the deli. It's right next to the art supply shop, and you could see if there is a hobby there for you."

With a hint of a smile, Christy nodded. "Good idea." Bella started up the truck and they went back towards town. Dinner was relatively quiet, and Christy was quick about buying lots of drawing tablets and supplies, along with a few how to books, because there was a time in every conversation when you knew it was time to just give the other person space and it was clear they'd passed that point, but Bella was afraid Christy would disappear if they didn't finish their plans for the day.

Bella drove her to the turn off for the Cullens, but seeing how the girl's hands shook, Christy took pity on her and ran up the driveway rather than make Bella visit the house the Cullen's left behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Christy sat on the tree limb and stared out at the sunset. The cold of the December breeze did nothing to her, and the smell of trees was somewhat Christmaslike. It reminded her that it would be Christmas in a few days, and she was alone. It wasn't a nice feeling, but it was familiar.

The sun sank beyond the horizon rather quickly and Christy's show was over. The sound of the evening animals started to pick up. It was dark, but it was still rather early. She used to hate that about Washington state, that the shortest day of the year was so very short.

She climbed back down the tree and continued on her run out of Forks, and towards Olympia. It was time to hunt, and Bella was going to be having time off school very soon, so Christy wasn't going to push her limits now. She was going to spend some time with Bella over Bella's winter break, and she was going to start helping Bella turn her life around.

It was nearing eight at night when Christy stepped out of the alley and straightened her jacket, self consciously making sure no blood was on her face by feeling around with her fingers. She'd need to find a bathroom to double check, but she felt relatively unscathed by the bastard she'd left in the dumpster. He had been laughing as he kicked that homeless man to death, so she was more than happy to even the score.

His wallet was a testament to Annie's power yet again. As Christy wandered down the street she took in the fact that he had the little card that came in the mail separately from someone's ATM card telling him what his pin was right in the wallet. Pulling her hood up over her head carefully, Christy took that card to the bank ATM and made as big a withdrawal as she thought she could get away with. They had daily limits on those cards after all.

After tossing the remainder of his wallet into the trash, Christy glanced across the street and noticed a Borders, still opened, with happy Christmas shoppers filling the parking lot. With next to no one in her life, Christy remembered that Bella used to like to read classics, romances, but that she couldn't stand romance now.

Christy also got a small bit of a smirk as she picked up six books, the best in young adult fiction to be written. She also glanced at the shelves to see if this world had a Stephanie Meyers writing anything. She couldn't find even one thing. That was a shame, because it would have been amusing to hear what Bella thought of that writer.

The seventh in the Harry Potter series wasn't even out yet, but Christy purchased the first six and had the charity workers wrap them for her before leaving them a nice donation. In the first few books there wasn't really much romance, and Bella needed to start reading again anyhow.

Having a present for someone made Christy feel a bit better, even as held her purchase to her chest and started to run back towards Forks and a darkened empty house. Sure, Bella was going to be pig headed and not want it, but Christy would straighten her out. She also planned to pressure Bella to read, because as soon as Bella finished each book, Christy was going to borrow it. Christy always regretted watching all the movies, but not reading more than one of the books.

The next morning Christy found herself outside of Bella's house as Charlie was slipping out to work. "Hey Chief Swan." She smiled at him, because he'd pretty much caught her before she could wander around the side of the house to try throwing pebbles at Bella's window. This was only the second time she'd seen him, but he clearly remembered her.

His answering grin when he saw her made Christy feel way more than welcome. "Bella's still sleeping." He told her, but he looked so happy that someone was visiting his daughter. It was actually rather sad. Christy remembered to push at her sunglasses a little, but she could see he was staring at them a bit hard. "Why do you wear those?" Her ploy didn't work anymore. His being a cop probably made it harder to get him to just accept he wasn't going to see her eyes.

"Eye condition." Christy grimaced. "It makes bright lights pretty painful." He didn't look completely convinced, but he nodded to her. "Can I go in and wake her up? I wanted to drag her out today."

Charlie let out a huff of air and shifted his stance to be more than just a stop to say hi. Christy watched him seem to quietly debate something. His grimace and sigh, before just nodding and taking her back to the house, to let her in was hint enough that he'd changed his mind about saying it. "You two have fun. If she gives you trouble about leaving the house, you tell her I'm coming back during my lunch break and she better be out having fun." That sounded like a scolding, and Christy just nodded, because even if Charlie didn't realize it, Christy understood what he was saying.

When the door closed, Christy was left alone, listening to the steady heartbeat of the girl upstairs and the soft breathing. She made her way up the steps and quietly opened the door to stare in for a moment. Bella looked so vulnerable, so sad, in her sleep. "Bella?" She called out as she stood in the doorway. Bella groaned and shifted a little. "Hey you little blood bag, how about a taste?" Christy teased, and Bella's eyes opened, and when they caught her, they opened even wider. "So, I know it's kind of early, but I was hoping we could do a few things and maybe catch a matinee movie. Night at the Museum came out today." She gave Bella a wide smile, not concerned that her teeth might worry the human. Christy could tell she was a little too excited about her plans for the day, and blamed her boredom for it. She could only attempt drawing, alone, at the house for so long before just hearing someone else's voice would be a treat.

"What? Christy?" Bella's eyes were blinking and Christy recognized the fuzziness of waking up. "What are you doing here?" It probably was confusing, since Christy never had been in Bella's house before.

Christy took a step into the room. "There is a free sample tai chi class going on at nine today, and I thought you should go, see if you like it." She spoke calmly and pretended to not notice Bella's grimace. "It's time to start those preparations I was talking about." Christy watched Bella sit up. "First thing will be some discipline, some control. You're starting a new healthy diet and an exercise plan."

When Bella didn't say anything Christy's voice softened. "I want you to try it, and if you hate it we'll think of something else, but it's free today, and I really think it will help." Bella started to get out of bed.

"I need a human moment." She muttered, and blushing, walked past Christy and into the bathroom.

When Bella came back out she obviously glanced at the window. "Your father let me in." Christy explained, because that window was locked from the inside. It wasn't that Christy couldn't have gotten in that way, but she didn't. "Dress in something loose and comfortable." Christy told Bella, before slipping out of the room so that Bella could get dressed.

"At least this one says wear something comfortable." Christy could easily hear the quiet self whisper Bella made while moving to find clothes. Christy knew who she was being compared to, but she wondered if Bella felt a stab of pain after her own words, or if she was slowly able to think about Alice at least.

When Bella came out to find her Christy was standing in the kitchen staring out the window, waiting for her. Bella stood in the doorway a moment, indecisive looking, before she walked over to the fridge and pulled out some eggs. "We have time right?" Christy smiled, seeing that Bella would have just skipped breakfast if it weren't Christy there, and even though Bella looked awkward and uncertain, she was cooking. That was something at least.

Christy sat in the passenger seat of the beat up old truck staring up at the sky a little nervously. "Forecast said cloudy, didn't it?" She asked, as she watched a patch of blue sky. It was a new problem, and she hadn't even thought of the weather, or possible sunshine, when she'd made her plans with Bella.

"It's supposed to rain this afternoon." Bella told her as Christy sat back in the seat and sighed. Bella looked thoughtful, as she stared up at the sky in Christy's place. "I guess I hadn't really thought about that problem, since, well, they never had a problem with it. They always knew when it was going to be too sunny out."

"In the time I've been living here, this is only the second borderline day I've seen." Christy commented, now seeing why this area was the Cullen's choice for a home.

"Have you seen yourself in the sunlight yet?" Bella asked, and Christy watched a small pained look cross Bella's face.

"Just my arm. Once I saw that I ran for shade." Christy told her and then checked to verify there wasn't enough sun for a sparkle effect now. So far she was safe.

"It isn't dangerous, except for the fact you might be seen." Bella explained softly, as if trying not to embarrass Christy.

"I know." Christy told her and watched Bella's thoughtful face start up again, as if the girl's brain was working hard. It made Christy a little concerned.

"How do you know so much? I mean if you've only been a vampire a few weeks, well, you really know a lot." Bella told her and Christy grimaced.

"In my last world, I read a book about this reality, or actually one almost like it." Christy struggled with this, but she had already changed this world so it wasn't this reality. Then inspiration struck. "It was about a newborn vampire in Seattle." That little Meyers book could help Christy hide her knowledge of Bella's life nicely, at least for now. Perhaps forever, if Christy managed to help Bella avoid some of her pitfalls and dangers. "My portals take me to any world I can think of, because it seems any fictional world is real somewhere. In that novel the girl was a newborn, and was learning what was true or not about vampires." Bella didn't need to know the rest of that sad story.

"And the Cullen's were in that story?" Bella asked even as they pulled into a parking spot near the dance studio. "Is that why you knew about them?"

"They were in it briefly." Christy muttered and then pointedly stared up at the sky. "I want to get inside, just in case that sun peaks out now." While that concerned her, when she watched Bella step out of the truck, Christy couldn't help but think 'be careful what you wish for', because she wanted Bella to wake up to the world around her, but now she was starting to see the part of Bella that lead to the girl figuring out vampires existed and Christy was about to find herself walking a careful line to make sure she didn't admit to too much too early.

There was a small crowd waiting for the workshop and Christy and Bella slipped into the back of the room without much bother. The teacher came out five minutes later and started to explain what Tai Chi was. Bella's balance problems were going to take a bit of work, but Christy was very happy that the 'free' session included a long lecture about the benefits of Tai Chi. Christy slowly followed along with the motions the teacher was having them all try. "Not fair." Bella muttered at her with a soft smile.

"This is all me." Christy gave Bella a grin and let her body flow in the familiar motion. "I have ten years of martial arts training." And it was not just a hobby, it helped her survive and fight. Her main challenge now was learning how fast or strong she was so she didn't over react. "You could do this too, with practice." Christy may have been exaggerating the grace to impress Bella a little.

Someone stumbled a bit towards the front and Christy glanced at Bella meaningfully. No one said anything about the miscalculation and class moved on. No pressure, that was good, for Bella at least.

After the class Bella stared at the application card that had been handed out. "If you balk at a six month commitment, try two. I'll join with you if you want." Christy just raised her eyebrow, over the sunglasses and stared at the girl.

"Okay, two." Bella seemed tense as she filled out the form. "I'm going to have to change my availability at work." She told Christy as she signed her name to the form.

In a half hour they were on the way to Port Angeles, and Bella's truck really was as slow as reported. Christy could see they made the speed limit, but that few other cars bothered with that. Still, she didn't say anything about the truck. "I bought you a Christmas present." Christy told Bella, and watched the girl's shoulders tense. Christy knew Bella had issues with gifts and probably with wrapping paper by now. "I'm not rich; you know I didn't go overboard."

"You didn't need to get me anything." Bella glanced over at Christy. "I mean, you're training me and planning to give me a choice, I don't need anything else."

Giving Bella a small grin, Christy shook her head. "I disagree, and I already bought it. I was just warning you that you need to squeeze me into the holidays." Bella let out a huff of air and was pouting a little, but only for a moment.

"Charlie hasn't had family to celebrate with in a while. He normally goes to his friend's house, and apparently now we're both going." Bella told her. "I'd ask if you could come too, but Billy knows about vampires and he doesn't like them." It reminded Christy about another issue she should probably address, and distracted by that thought she just nodded to Bella. "We could do something the day after at my house."

"That would be nice." Christy gave the girl a smile, glad to not be alone through the entire holidays. She was a little concerned that she hadn't known where Bella spent the holidays before, but then in the book Bella hadn't even noticed December happening to her. Maybe her father had just made it about the two of them at their house when Bella was so bad off, or maybe Bella really didn't remember spending the holidays with Jacob and Billy. She'd still been a zombie, Christy could, at least, know she'd made a difference already. Bella's hand over her own surprised Christy and she glanced down to see that Bella had rested her hand over Christy's, and Bella gently squeezed it.

"You won't be alone." Bella whispered, showing she knew that it bothered Christy.

…..

They slipped into the movie with no problems and Christy could hear Bella laughing occasionally at it, which made the entire trip worth it, if just to show Bella she could still laugh. It was when they left the darkened theater to head towards the front doors that Bella stopped walking, which alerted Christy to a problem. Christy glanced around at all the people she could see, her body tense for trouble.

"Sun." Was all Bella muttered and it drew Christy's eyes to the glass doors of the theater, to stare out at a beautiful day.

"Shit." Christy muttered. "Want to watch another movie?" She asked, with a weak smile, but then she moved closer. "I'm so sorry. You could just leave me here if you want, I didn't mean to trap you with me."

"No, no, I came here with you and maybe we could watch," Christy watched Bella's eyes travel to the options and she could see Bella grimace at a few of the choices, so she just waited to see what Bella would suggest. When Bella's eyes widened and she smiled just a little Christy glanced over at the offerings to see what had caused that. "Charlotte's Web."

"Sounds good to me." Christy shrugged her shoulders, as they headed to buy tickets. "Since this is my fault, I'll buy you lunch at the concession stand. It isn't as nutritious as I wanted you to start eating, but maybe we'll start that tomorrow." Christy offered.

"Bella?" A young man's voice reached them before Bella could answer Christy, and they turned to see a grinning Native American boy walking up to them with an older girl who could easily be his more serious sister following behind.

"Hey Jacob." Bella answered and Christy glanced at the girl with some concern. This was Jacob? Bella didn't know him too well yet. Christy slid her sunglasses back into place carefully as she watched the little reunion. She took a careful sniff of the air and could smell a faint hint of dog, but it was just a hint. Doubtlessly, it would grow in the next couple of months as Jacob finished his transformation into a wolf shape shifter.

Right now Jacob just gave Christy a friendly nod as Bella introduced the Quileutes to their natural enemy, and they didn't even know it. "What movie are you two going to see?" Jacob asked.

"Charlotte's Web." Christy answered and resisted the urge to smile. There was no way a teenage boy was lining up for that movie.

"I'd like it better than Eragon." Rachel piped in and Christy glanced at Jacob, seeing him decide to cave.

Christy started to wonder if Annie's luck power was a little broken when she lent it to Christy, because this was going to be difficult, even though these two didn't believe the legends yet, they knew what to look for in a vampire. "We could sit together." Jacob offered so good naturedly, that there was no saying no to him.

In the theater Christy could hear Jacob take another deep breath and make a disgusted sound. "They just pour the bleach on the pop and stir it up don't they." He muttered and Christy sat back in her own seat a bit more self consciously. Bella was luckily seated between them, and Jacob's sister was on the other side of him, but this was still awkward for her, the only one completely aware of how odd this afternoon really was. The theater was still filling, as there was time before the show.

"Did you want anything else to eat?" Christy asked Bella, who stared down at her two hotdogs and drink as if she was surprised that question could even be asked.  
"No, I'm fine." Bella told her and Christy just nodded and resigned herself to this experience.

"So, what's with the 'I wear sunglasses at night' look?" Jacob asked with a half smile and Christy watched as Rachel hit him in the thigh. He grimaced, but his eyes didn't leave Christy's glasses.

Bella tensed up a bit next to her but Christy had been expecting this. She hadn't decided how she'd approach this with a teen who was turning into a werewolf as they spoke though. The lie would be proved untrue in just a couple months for him, and there would be plenty of anger at the time. Christy really didn't know the best way to deal with this. "I think of it as a 'Futures so bright I gotta wear shades' look." Christy teased and gave Jacob a challenging smile, hoping to distract him. It didn't work.

"But really," Jacob pushed.

"Medical condition." Christy spoke softly, and then turned as the previews started. As the movie started, Christy let herself get lost in it, but she did hand over more napkins when Bella's eyes started to cry.

"Even the briefest of lives touch each other." Christy leaned in and quietly whispered to the girl beside her. "Wilbur will always carry a piece of her in his heart and she'll live on that way, and she'll live on through those lives he touches." Bella turned to give Christy a surprised look, even as the credits started to roll. "Mortality is something I'm very familiar with." Christy gave Bella a weak smile, not adding anything about what taught her this.

"Hey, anyone want an early dinner?" Jacob spoke as Christy was watching Bella drying her cheeks as subtly as she could when the credits started. "I could really use a burger."

"I don't know where you put it all. You ate most of the popcorn and a hotdog." His sister shook her head and gave Christy a small smile. "But you two are welcome to join us."

"I really need to get back." Bella spoke before Christy could think if she needed to make up an excuse. Christy glanced over at Bella and watched how the girl interacted with the people they'd accidently picked up on their movie day. Bella gave a weak, polite smile to Jacob and stood up, pulling her coat on. "I have to cook for Charlie, and I did just eat more than enough to last me for hours."

"It was nice meeting you two." Christy followed Bella's example and tugged her own coat closed as if preparing for the cold that actually wouldn't bother her.

The ride back to Forks was often filled with silence, but it was a comfortable quiet and so Christy didn't rush to talk through it. Bella had a slight smile on her face as they pulled onto her street. "I had fun." The words were said quietly and Christy smiled at the admission.

"So did I."

…

The day after Christmas came rather quickly and Christy could hear the Swan family from the sidewalk one house up as she made her way over, given her familiarity with their voices now it wasn't hard to check on the situation in the house before walking up. "I didn't know she was related to the Cullen's." Charlie's tense voice was easily proof that she should wait. Christy slowed and slipped up to the tree on the border between Charlie's home and the neighbor while she waited to see what had happened and if she was going to have to smooth feathers to get into the house because of her cover to protect her from wolves.

"Actually she's a Taylor." Bella muttered in the way she did when she didn't want to talk about something but still had to.

"But you told Billy she was related to them." Charlie hissed out the word 'them' and it made it clear to Christy that the Cullens were still unforgiven in this house. Bella's heart was racing a bit too much and Christy grimaced as she decided to take on the job of lying, she was a professional at it after all.

As she made her way to the front door Christy made a mental note to see if she could get a phone number for Billy Black, before she ran into the wolves in person. They'd be looking for her now, and she needed to explain her eyes before any wolf saw them. Christy was really going to lean on the gifted luck Annie gave her for that conversation.

The raised voices wouldn't be understandable to a human, perhaps not even audible, so Christy knocked on the door and schooled her features into pleasant ignorance.

Bella opened the door and gave Christy a wide eyed look that clearly was her attempt at a warning. Christy just nodded that she understood and watched Bella let out a breath and move to the side. "Is that?" Bella glanced at the box Christy was carrying.

"Your present, why yes it is." Christy gave the girl a teasing smile as she stood to the side to let Bella close the door. Charlie was watching her with sharper eyes, probably now really taking in the characteristics Christy had in common with the Cullens, all having to do with vampiric qualities and nothing to do with actual genetic relations. "Hey Charlie." Christy gave him a small greeting.

"Christy, I just heard something interesting." Charlie's tone was more cop that not, and it leant a feeling of interrogation to the conversation. "Bella here says you're related to the Cullens."

"Well," Christy frowned a little, "Somewhat I guess." She took a breath she didn't need and continued with her charade. "I'm related to Emmett, he's my cousin."

"Emmett?" Charlie spoke and Christy had to pretend not to hear the small pained gasp from Bella at hearing even that name. Emmett's hair sounded like it was closer to Christy's hair color, and Charlie didn't seem to ever really talk to him in the books.

"The big guy." Christy smirked at him, knowing Charlie would need that added reminder. "Esme was nice enough to let me stay at their old place when I needed a place, my last roommate bailed on me and I wasn't really making ends meet." Charlie looked a tad surprised that Christy had financial trouble, and it was yet another difference between her and them that Christy was sure would help.

"What do you do for money?" Charlie was eyeballing her sun glasses suspiciously now.

"Dad!" Bella protested the interrogation, and Christy just sighed and gave Bella a small look to try and reassure her it was okay. If Christy couldn't make up stories on the fly like this she would have been a pretty unsuccessful spy in her last life.

"Right now, I don't do a heck of a lot for money. I have a little left from when my Mom died and I'm doing what she wanted me to do." Christy took a shaky breath. "I'm working on a novel, she always wanted me to at least try once for my dreams, and I wanted to try and do that with her money, and once I start college I won't have time to write."

That proved to be the right answer, for now. Christy knew they'd talk again, but Charlie gave some sympathy and let Bella drag Christy up the stairs for the late Christmas.

"Budding writer?" Bella asked once her bedroom closed.

"It can't be confirmed, I can fake it easily, and it explains why I'm able to visit you so much." Christy explained and then held the box out to a groaning girl. "So here is your gift, you ungrateful heathen." She smiled at Bella's shocked look, before Bella saw she was teasing.

"I," Bella took the box, and the weight of it seemed to surprise her for a moment. Hesitant fingers started for the edge of the paper wrapping and then Bella's heart started to pound a bit too hard for it to be nothing. Christy studied the paling skin and the smell of fear.

"I'm not going to hurt you if you don't like it." Christy teased softly, trying to calm Bella down.

"Maybe you should open it for me." Bella spoke words that made perfect sense to Christy, since Christy had read the books and knew what happened the last time Bella opened a present. "I'm kind of clumsy, I could drop it or something." Bella's words trailed off and it was a struggle not to say something that would let Bella know that Christy knew too much about what had happened.

"You can do this, and I kind of wanted to see your face when you open it. I can't do that and open it for you." Christy tried to keep a small smile on her face, while mentally cursing Edward and Jasper out for Bella's issue now. "I'll just tell you it isn't fragile."

Bella's fingers just played with the edge of the paper and the girl was staring at the gift like it might attack her. "What if I cut myself?" Bella's voice was so quiet only a vampire would hear her.

"Then I'll find you a bandaid." Christy spoke as matter of factly as possible. "Because I'm on a strict scumbag diet, so you don't have to worry about me." Christy pushed her sunglasses up onto her forehead and stared at Bella until the girl looked up at her. "I never come over hungry Bella, never, but I can tell you my willpower is rather strong, even if I had, and I won't cheat on my diet." Christy's bright red eyes were her only proof of that. She didn't want to mar Christmas with telling Bella she'd found a kidnapper on Christmas eve, or that she'd had to call the vehicle in herself, so that someone would release the kid from the trunk, rather than expose herself to witnesses.

Bella only looked partially reassured, and Christy realized it wasn't being killed that was on Bella's mind. "I'm alone Bella, I'm not about to do anything to lose my only friend." Christy spoke softly and found Bella's shoulders started to relax.

The paper ripped easily, and Christy had made sure to not tape it too well, so no blood was shed. Bella's eyebrows drew together as she stared at the spine of seven books and it just made Christy chuckle. "It's gonna be a classic someday, so I figured you might like it."

"Harry Potter?" Bella tore her eyes away from the books and the disbelief on her face was precious.

"I hear those are really good. Once you finish them I'm borrowing em." Christy said, therefore enforcing the need for Bella to actually read books again, because Bella knew Christy was too bored to want to wait long. It was perfect. Bella found the first in the series and flipped it open to see the description.

Bella blushed a little once she'd realized she was opening the book to look at the first chapter and set the books down on her bed. "Thank you for the books."

"You're welcome." Christy smiled, and was happy to see her choice of books just might work. It was not a classical romance, nothing like what Bella read before, and therefore was something she might try now.

They'd talked about movies and actors for a little while, mostly because Charlie was spying on them, but he gave up and Christy found Bella sitting and staring at the wall a little too long, before the girl spoke. "I'm starting Tai Chi soon, but what else will you do to train me?"

"There are a lot of things. I want to save the more extreme for later though." Christy thought about her plans for morgues and cancer wards, to explore death. And she barely let herself think about taking Bella out hunting with her, because she really wasn't sure that was a good idea, but it would teach Bella a lot.

Christy spoke with more authority, "I thought we should start with planning. You need to plan two lives now, one as a human and one as a vampire. You need to get your life in order for either possibility as we work on this and as you learn enough to make a decision." Bella frowned just a little, clearly not getting it. "It's time to apply for college, and also to research cloudy places to live if you aren't going to college. It's time to think about careers you could have, both with or without a heartbeat. It is also time to think about age, and the pros and cons of staying this young forever, or if twenty something would be better." Christy sighed. "I would have been happy with thirtysomething myself, more options, better chances to keep an identity for longer, but I'm stuck with what I've got." She stared into brown eyes. "Do you see what I mean?"

"But why plan two lives, why not wait until I'm able to make a decision?" Bella seemed really reluctant and Christy sighed heavily.

"It's better to know what your options are, all your options, in a situation like this. Bella, if you decide to be changed, there is no redo, no changing your mind, but you could delay that decision for a while, or put an age to it so you can make the most of your life. You really need to know what options you have, and also if you decide it isn't worth it you need to not have wasted time preparing for life after high school."

Christy stood up and moved to the window and stared out, fully aware of the human watching her. She understood that Bella was still drifting and lost emotionally, and it was a hard mental space to be in and make any sort of plans for the future. Christy's words were meant to inspire. "If we do this right you might not have to give up everything. You could still be in contact with your parents if you are pretending to be away at college, but you would need to be 'accepted' to a college far enough away they couldn't drop by to see you. Maybe, with my past experience I could make you look like you are aging with makeup, so you could see them once in a while. I think it's possible, most vampires wouldn't, but then they didn't spend ten years as a spy. I think, properly planned, you could still be around for them until they died." Bella flinched at that last word. Christy spoke more softly, "It wouldn't be any easier to deal with as a human, death is always around, but as a vampire you see more of it."

"I heard that I couldn't stay near them, that I wouldn't even be myself for years after being changed and that I could never see them again." Bella's voice was pained and her hands were gripping each other.

"That's a pessimistic view. I think, if we do this right, we could do better." Christy gave Bella a smile as she watched the small smile, the hope, start to show on Bella's face. Christy knew Bella could do better, so why not plan for it? "Worth making plans for?"

"Yeah, that's worth it." Bella's eyes shined and Christy felt a little apprehensive as the girl moved to hug her gently. "Very worth it." Finally Christy rested her own arms around Bella and took in the scent of blood and life, while feeling the warmth she no longer carried, resting against her.

"It won't hurt to show Charlie I can be a good influence." Christy added, as she heard the man starting for the stairs again, to spy. "He's about to check on us again."

"He just doesn't want me hurt again, and it didn't help that Billy made a big fuss when he heard you wear sunglasses all the time." Bella sighed. "Jacob brought that up. I don't think he's allowed to see you anymore."

"It would be shocking if he were." Christy spoke more softly. "You said Billy knows about us, so he'd know why I'd hide my eyes." Her voice got louder as she interrupted Bella's response. "I'm thinking about starting college next year. You could come with me, be my roommate." Christy widened her eyes and willed Bella to follow along.

"College? I, well, I haven't really thought about it." Bella stammered out, clearly understanding they weren't alone anymore.

"You're kidding right? I mean you're way too smart not to go." Christy put all the doubt needed into that line. "You could probably get a scholarship even. I'm most likely looking at a pile of loans, with mom being sick I didn't really do too well my senior year, but you're doing great in school."

Charlie proved to be Bella's father, as he accidently stepped right on the squeak in the hall. Christy could hear him cursing when he didn't that and she couldn't help but smile at his clumsy spy work.

"I'll think about it." Bella muttered and her father wandered off, to the bathroom.

"Good." Christy smirked when the bathroom door closed loud enough for them to hear. "I'm going to have to deal with his suspicions soon."

"How?"

"I'll think of something. Don't worry." Christy glanced outside to see it was starting to get dark. It tended to get dark very early in the winter in Washington.

Christy left Bella's house not too much later, with a phone number in her hand. When Charlie and Bella were distracted by talks about dinner, Christy had used her vampire speed and learned stealth to find where Billy Black's phone number was. The man wasn't listed in the phone books, so Christy copied down Charlie's personally scrawled number and took it with her after making excuses for not staying for dinner.

It was time to start to deal with the wolves, now that they knew she was there.

….

"My son, MY son, told me you wear those sunglasses all the time. I know what that means." Billy's voice had gotten loud as Christy asked for a second time to meet and discuss a treaty, because he'd flat out told her no the first time.

"I don't eat what you think I do." Christy fought her own frustration on the phone with him. "I only kill monsters, Rapists, Murderers, Kidnappers. I never kill good people." Her voice softened. "And about your son, I didn't know how to get rid of him politely and being rude to him would make me feel like an asshole kicking a puppy. He's so full of joy, I couldn't do it."

Billy Black had sputtered at that, and Christy knew that he realized his son was changing into a wolf in that moment. "But still you kill people."

"No one you wouldn't kill yourself. None of your wolves would have let those monsters live either. I am positive of that. No one with the power to stop them would just let monsters like that walk among good people, knowing what they would do." She caught the irony of her words at the moment of his small shocked gasp. It helped her speak more gently. "I give them a chance to not do what they are doing, I wait to be sure of what they are. I wait too long, if anything. I give them too much time to terrorize the people they are hurting, just to see if they will turn away from what they are doing. The rapists I killed were in the act or all lined up to drive into those women before I tugged them away, the murderers had already killed their victims. I finally didn't wait when I could hear the child screaming for help from the trunk of the car the kidnapper was driving." Only the details would help, because the story in his mind was much darker than Christy's reality.

She glared out at the parking lot she could see from the rare payphone she'd managed to find in Forks. "I would even like your permission to not wait as long as I do, but I did not want you to claim any of those men were innocent, I gave them chance after chance so you couldn't say I was wrong. I need that treaty, because I'm not leaving Forks. If I don't get that treaty, I'll still be here, but I'll run the risk of having to kill a wolf. I don't want to do that."

"You, you." Billy sounded stunned, a bit too stunned actually and Christy went quiet, hoping for an explanation to his tone. He just sounded resigned as he spoke again. "I'll have the boys meet you at the border, but we aren't promising anything. It's just a meeting."

The border was rather large, so Billy gave her better directions before hanging up on her. Christy had her meeting now, and an odd feeling she was missing something.

Christy went a little early and used that time to take in the area. She noted the water in the creek was too shallow to be an escape if she needed it, the trees were tall though, and if she had to run along the tops she could get some speed going as well. She took in the location of the road and the nearest shop on the Forks side of the border if she needed a populated area to race toward. Her evaluation of the area wasn't anything unusual for her and she just sat on a downed tree trunk and waited for the wolves.

The smell of wet dog reached Christy just a moment after the sound of running did. She stood up and faced the direction the sound was coming from. There was a pause, and then three nearly naked men stepped out of the treeline. The shorts they wore were not as long as men normally wore, probably because less fabric was easier for them to carry around, but it was showing off thighs.

At least they changed so that they could talk, that was a good sign, Christy thought, as she watched how cautiously then glanced around, before stepping out a few more steps. They still stopped several feet away.

"So this is the vigilante leech?" One of the boys sneered at her while pretending he was talking to the other two. He didn't try to hide his disgust at her scent, even though Christy was politely ignoring their own unique smell. Christy dismissed him as it was obvious he was Paul, and looked at the other two to try and figure out which was the Alpha Sam.

One of the remaining two wolves actually gave her a small hint of a smile and Christy stared at him a moment, confused, before the more serious of those two took a seemed to draw her eyes to him. He spoke. "We have never made a treaty with a human drinker. We never would have, and it should have occurred to us that the Cullens wouldn't necessarily follow that rule." He stared into her uncovered red eyes.

"The Cullens have a few friends with diets like mine." Christy admitted while not having to lie yet. The books had briefly mentioned Peter and Charlotte and when Christy had first read that she'd fully understood why those two vampires would hunt the way they did. After Christy fully realized where and when she was, it was also that brief memory that helped her decide to stick to her own vampire diet plan.

The wolves came to her assuming she knew the Cullens, like she'd planned. "It takes a lot more work, but in the end, like he said," Christy glanced at Paul, who had his arms crossed in front of him and an irritated scowl on his face, "I can save people just by what I eat."

"What's to say she won't get impatient someday and take out the victim as well as the scumbag." Paul growled. "Beaten women bleed, its gotta be tempting to a bloodsucker."

It took an effort to not smile as Christy realized Paul wouldn't say that if they weren't considering giving her that treaty. They were barely adults, they hadn't seen or experienced nearly as many of these types of meetings as Christy had, and they had just tipped their hand. It was a testament to Annie's luck powers that there was a chance here for Christy to do this without violence.

"Paul!" Sam growled at the bristling wolf in human form, and Christy now to could claim to know that one name at least.

"Well, Paul. First off, my name is Christy, not leech or bloodsucker." Christy spoke evenly and stared at him. "But you can call me Leech if you like, it doesn't bother me." She smirked at him, taking the power of namecalling away from him. "It'll be like a little pet name." She could see him bristle even more at the way she emphasized the word pet.

"I'm the Alpha." Sam spoke, and it was clearly a maneuver to get her attention off of Paul. "Sam." He pointed to himself. He made no move to introduce the third wolf, and Christy really didn't remember what that wolves name might have been.  
"Okay, well Paul brought up a good point." Christy nodded to the more hotheaded of the wolves and stared at Sam while she did it. "The scumbags I do feed on often are making people bleed when I find them." She worked to spin that doubt Paul introduced. "I've even been better able to find them at times because of that. The point I want to make is that seeing that just pisses me off, it doesn't make me more hungry."

She rolled her eyes a little and then sighed heavily, crossing her arms in front of her as she studied the Alpha of the Pack. She wasn't sure how he'd take her words, but she was aware that they were just offering her a chance to convince them, they were just offering to listen without too much prejudging. It was what she'd hoped for, more than she'd expected though. "It isn't that I'm unable to live on animals like the Cullens, it isn't that I think the blood of humans is too hard to give up. I learned as a human not to be a picky eater, whatever keeps you alive is good enough. I ate more than my share of spoiled food, among other things, just to survive my human years." She gave a slight grimace at that, and noticed she wasn't the only one. "I chose to stick to what I call my 'scumbag diet' because I can't see having all this power and not doing something to help people. I can't swoop in and save people like superman, but this I can do." No, her last life rarely even had her doing it that way. She was always one to stick to the shadows.

"And if you can't find enough scumbags?" Sam asked pointedly, but he didn't seem to be standing as rigidly as before.

"Well, then I'm able to eat animals if I have to, but sadly I haven't found a shortage of scumbags yet. I wish it wasn't so very easy to find them." She ran one hand through her hair.

"There really is that many?" The unnamed wolf spoke quietly and Christy glanced at him to see a troubled look on his face.

She spoke right to the troubled wolf, knowing all of them were watching her. "If I needed to hunt every day, I would probably still rarely need to rely on animals. I don't hunt nearly that often, and I could live a very long time before I have to resort to bambi. But it isn't that humans are evil, or that there are a huge numbers of scumbags roaming the streets all the time. It's that I know where to find them, I know how THEY hunt and I can find them doing that."

"Did you ever hunt like this in Port Angeles?" Sam spoke, and Christy narrowed her eyes and stared at him, a bit surprised by his words.

"Yes, I did a couple of times. I haven't hunted in Forks and in this immediate area though. I knew that was off limits." She watched as Sam's fist clenched just a bit, but he was just a little pale, not red with anger.

"Near the docks?" He pushed, his words coming faster and Christy just nodded. Sam took a deep breath and ran an angry hand through his hair, tugging it a little.

She watched Sam stare down at the ground rather than at her, before the unnamed one spoke. "Then it was probably her, she's the one that saved Leah."

"We don't know that." Paul protested. "It could be Leah just didn't see him run, he might have heard a siren or something. It isn't like she let any of us near her to scent if she was near a leech at all after she got back."

Christy's eyes widened for a moment, as the name was familiar from the book, but she never really looked too hard at the victims when she was focused on pulling the rapist away without being seen and killing him swiftly.

"Chances are good that it was though." Sam spoke up and looked over at Paul. "Very good." His eyes traveled to Christy. "I'm thinking that treaty could work."

"Come ON!, " Paul protested loudly and his body started to shake. "She's a human drinker."

"No," Sam shook his head and stared at Christy. "I don't believe she is." His eyes held hers. "I wouldn't call the men she killed humans. " His own body shook a little and his fists clenched. "And it's good to know that Leah's attacker met a very bad end."

"But," Paul pushed and Sam turned to glare at him.

"Enough Paul." Sam's voice was commanding. "I say this vampire isn't a human drinker, and that is all we need to say about it." His eyes studied her, looked at her eyes. "Our lands are off limits, and if you kill humans in the surrounding area we will hunt you down." The way he stressed the words humans had a double meaning.

"Is Leah okay?" Christy asked quietly, concerned about the she wolf to be. That was going to be the packs only female wolf someday, and as such she already had a hard enough life on the way.

That seemed to startle Sam a bit and he gave her a searching look, before slowly answering. "I hear she's mostly doing alright. He didn't manage, well, he didn't. You stopped him just in time. She was beat up a bit but that's healed." He seemed unsure, and couldn't give her any answer about her emotions, so it was clear he wasn't able to ask Leah himself. That was how Christy knew that Sam had already imprinted and had to break up with Leah, probably not too long before this happened to the girl.

"I'm glad she's okay." Was all Christy could say in response.

"Yes, well, thank you." Was all Sam managed before he clearly reminded himself he was in charge. He stood a bit taller. "There is just one more point to the treaty, other than what I've mentioned." He stared into her eyes. "Bella Swan." Sam spoke in a flat, unhappy, voice as he stated that name. "We'd heard you were hanging out with her. I believe that it would be a good idea if you didn't have anything to do with humans, it will just make it that much more likely that you might slip."

Christy's eyes hardened, and her smile was obviously faked. "Oh, how nice of you to be concerned, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

"If you bite a human in Forks, even if you don't drain them, that will be a breach of the treaty and we will have to kill you." Sam spoke firmly, trying to use his Alpha command voice on Christy, and Christy almost bristled, until she replayed his comment in her mind and realized he'd screwed it up big time. There were loopholes all over that command, even better ones than what the Cullens had. The thing with Leah was really putting Sam off his game, Christy thought.

"I can agree to that, but I'm not giving up the only friend I have in this area." Christy offered quickly, so that he couldn't change his wording. He was clearly not happy with her, but he agreed. Now, if she really had to change Bella, she could just take Bella out of Forks to do it, or inject her with venom without biting her. It was pretty perfect, because there was no way she'd have wanted to change the girl in her own hometown anyhow. It was better to do that far from people who might want to visit.


	3. Chapter 3

Christy held her pose, arms out and head facing the forest behind Bella's house. She could hear the girl straining a little less than last week with the pose as she followed Christy's lead. "Practice is the key for anything really." Christy spoke softly as she started to move slowly into the next pose. "Have you noticed it helping yet? I've heard people say it starts to help in a matter of a few weeks."

"But you didn't experience that?" Bella asked as she did her best to follow the movements Christy was making as clear as she could.

"I was forced to learn to control my body a bit differently, and by the time I was studying this I had an unfair advantage of not owning real muscles. I couldn't tire out with the Warriors Pose." Christy chuckled at the jealous sigh her response got.

"I feel a bit more balanced." Bella managed and they continued to work quietly, with Christy just giving her feedback to the girl when Bella wasn't quite making the pose right. The coat and warm clothes weren't as hard for her to work with as they'd worried it would be, and the weather was merely cool, not cold today. "This will be nicer in Spring." Bella muttered and it was a rare comment about the future. Christy just stared toward the forest and smiled as Bella hinted that she'd stick to this tai chi.

They were quiet a little longer, before Christy spoke again. "How are you doing with the assignment I gave you?" She made sure to ask gently, knowing that Bella had a tough time with this and it was still early January. Bella hadn't been working on this long. Christy had started giving Bella work that required she think about two possible futures. Bella had to apply to at least 4 colleges, for a human life, and had to do a bit of thinking about what was the perfect age to be for a vampire.

"How old would you have chosen to be if you could have?" Bella asked as they stood up, Tai Chi completed for the day.

With a heavy sigh Christy glanced at her reflection in the window of Bella's house. "Older than this, that's for sure." Christy watched the slight pain reflected in Bella's eyes, and knew where that girl's mind went. "I would want to be considered an adult for eternity. I would also want a decent amount of time I could develop a life for before having to move on. Keep in mind that what you want out of life will dictate this more than anything else." Christy moved to gently pat Bella on the shoulder, and stared into her eyes when Bella looked up at her again. "For me, I would have liked thirty, because it wouldn't take much to make me look twenty or forty. I could have a long time in a place with a range like that." She held her arms out. "I didn't get that, but if I had the ability to chose, I would have picked that."

"Thirty?" Bella's voice was a little louder and tenser.

"That's what I would have wanted. You need to make up your own mind about this. I plan to stick around, so don't feel pressured to pick something under twenty just to make sure I'm here for it." Christy knew in the book that Bella was turned in less than a year from now, but they were planning without any of that inside knowledge. The mere act of planning her life, gave Bella some power over it, and that was what she needed now.

"Would you have chosen to be a vampire?" Bella asked and moved to sit down on the steps into the house as she started this conversation outside. Luckily no neighbor was so very close they could hear it even if they were outside. "If it weren't suddenly thrust on you like this, would you have picked this?"

Christy sat down slowly, facing Bella from the next step up. "I have always chosen life, even when life wasn't really all that possible or that good. I chose to live through hell just to see the end of my world, and I stared that asteroid down as it came to earth. I'm not really a good representative of vampires Bella, because under this new body, that isn't what I am. I'm still that woman that fought hard for every day I was allowed to continue living so that I could try and get my people even one more day."

Bella seemed to pale and Christy sighed heavily. "I haven't been human in a while either, but I do like the power to make a difference in the world. If my choices were Human or Vampire, I could have chosen Vampire. I don't have to fear the sun, or holy objects, so it makes it a bit more appealing than in the movies." Christy gave Bella a hint of a smile. "I did reach thirty as a human, it was over ten years ago, but I did become an adult Bella and I liked my life before it all fell apart. There is something to be said for both in this." Christy knew that Edward and Rosalie wouldn't agree with this, weren't able to see it, but Bella was able to. "You have to pay for every decision you make, if you decide to be a vampire you pay with the secrecy and the lack of a normal life or kids if you wanted that and the traditional things about having a human life, and if you decide to stay human you have to deal with mortality and the way your body will eventually give out on you. You will be more vulnerable too. It's the same with any other decision big or small, once you pick something there are other things you will give up for it. You have to decide what you can live with. I've had to make some horrific decisions in my life, and no matter how hard they were, they were easier for me to live with than the alternative."

"The cannibalism." Bella whispered almost too quiet for a human to hear.

"That was one of them, yes." Christy answered nearly as quietly. "I didn't choose to live on a dying planet, that was forced on me. The way I dealt with the end of the world was all I could control. Many people didn't agree with the choices I made at that time, and I continue to pay for them even now, and I will likely pay for the rest of my life. That is what making choices can become, something you have to live with forever. You are making huge decisions, ones that can't be taken back. Few people your age have to face a decision like that. "

"There are vampires my age, or that were turned at my age." Bella almost choked that sentence out and Christy moved to rest a hand on Bella's arm for a moment in support.

"Few, if any, vampires had to choose whether they were turned or not. I doubt even a fraction of them even knew what a vampire was, so they couldn't choose that. Most had it thrust on them like I had the end of the world thrust on me, and had to learn later what they were. Their only decision was how they were going to adjust to their new lives, how they were going to accept what they were and live the rest of their lives. Some get caught up in all the new powers and others get stuck on all the new limitations." Christy stared into Bella's eyes, seeing the watery sheen to it that said Bella was near tears just saying that much. "You've chosen to take more control of your life than the other vampires you've met ever had." A tear trailed down Bella's cheek.

"HE thought he had no soul, that vampires had no soul." Bella whispered in a painful voice and leaned forward to wrap her arms around her knees, looking smaller and more fragile.

"I don't believe that. I've met monsters that have raped and killed, I've met politicians that have argued that a genocide was a good idea for a group of people that hadn't attacked them because they were afraid they would attack them. If these bastards had souls, why wouldn't a vampire?" Christy shook her head at the memory of feeling those people die and the way they reacted to her powers. Christy had a vague sense of her powers now, they were muted and quiet in her new body and she wasn't sure they were really there or if she only felt what she thought she should after having those powers for years. Without them she'd have no definitive answer about the vampire soul, but she was still positive it was there. If Bella were stronger, and this wasn't about Edward, Christy would talk about how unhealthy and insane that thought really was, but talking about the self-hatred Edward felt and the way it ruined any happiness he could feel was not going to go well.

"I know, they have to have souls." Bella muttered and then stared out at the woods.

"I think your father needs to see my eyes, before his imagination runs wild for any longer." Christy spoke after the silence took too long and found Bella looking at her again. It was a badly needed change of subject. "So we need to decide, does he see them red or black? Red is a bit too unnatural, but black could be mistaken for my being a druggie."

"What?" Bella's eyes grew larger. "And black? Can you even do that safely?"

Christy sighed heavily. "My will is rather strong, but I'm not even sure how long it would take to go black."

"I don't know that I want you testing that with my father." Bella spoke a bit more firmly.

"And how would he take red eyes" Christy shook her head. "If he didn't suspect I was a drug addict and that's why he never sees my eyes, I wouldn't bother with this. If he makes up too much in his head about me, he won't want us spending time together and I'm wanting to spend more time with you, not less. We have a lot to do and it just doesn't feel like we have enough time. We have to have some sort of plan by summer."

"I don't want to risk Charlie in this." Bella pushed and Christy went quiet for a moment.

"Okay, so we'll go with the idea that I'm albino and dye my hair. It covers a few of our claims about me and most people know very little about it. Human albinos aren't really red eyed like this." Christy thought for a moment. Normally she wouldn't talk so much about a decision, her partners in situations where decisions needed to be made were more than able to follow her line of thought, but Bella needed the practice on decision making and exposure to what she'd need to think about in the future. It almost felt like Christy had an apprentice of her own. She found herself spelling things out like Mystique had for her in the beginning.

The sound of the police cruiser was easy to pick up from down the street now that Christy knew what it sounded like. They'd gone inside and sat in the living room to watch a movie. It was the simplest solution Christy could come up with, and she sat in that room with her sunglasses off.

Rather than alert Bella, and have the girl tense up, she continued to focus on the movie. Bella's acting skills weren't something they'd need to test too badly for this, and Christy already knew that in life and death situations that girl could act. It just wasn't clear how she'd do at this moment. Once she heard the cruiser stop Christy spoke up. "TV off." It was part of the plan to not have something to distract Charlie from the fact Christy's sunglasses weren't on. It wouldn't do to take this risk and have him not even notice if something on TV distracted him. He was easily distracted by TV.

Bella's eyes widened when she turned it off and she craned her neck to look toward the driveway. "You'll do fine, just don't overdo it." Christy reassured the girl quietly and then just smiled "Might as well ask you if you've figured out a potential major for college." Christy offered as a conversation and smirked as she saw Bella roll her eyes at that.

"Not really." Bella muttered, but then sighed heavily. "I might like English as a major, since I like to read all those books that are assigned in school, unlike the other kids." Christy did manage not to smile at those words, a hint to the healing taking place. Bella wouldn't have even mentioned books a month ago.

"That's a good major, shows you can communicate." Christy nodded, thinking about careers after school, which was a conversation they hadn't reached, because so much depended on Bella's decisions about being a vampire. There were some jobs that were just a bad idea for a vampire. Dr. Cullen might have made one of those work, but the challenges weren't something a newborn would need to work with.

Christy glanced at the sunglasses sitting on the coffee table and sighed as she heard Charlie taking the steps to the front door. "I would pick something different this time. I did Psychology last time, maybe Anthropology or Creative Writing." Bella looked a little more interested in the conversation suddenly and Christy could see questions growing, but the front door opened.

"Hey I'm home Bells!" Charlie's voice called out into the house.

"We're in the living room." Bella called back and Christy could hear him muttering about the fact that of course she was here. He used to like that, but his suspicions were ruining that in spite of the fact Christy could see her presence was helping Bella. Hopefully this fixed the problem.

"What are you two doing?" He sounded confused and when he moved into the room.

"Just talking." Bella answered and glanced at Christy a tad too obviously. Charlie followed her gaze and when his eyes widened Christy gave an embarrassed squeak as she reached for her sunglasses as if just realizing she didn't have them on and that she was horribly embarrassed about it.

"Dad." Christy heard the slight censor in Bella's voice and it sounded pretty genuine as the girl scolded her dad for staring while Christy hurried to put her sunglasses on. Bella was doing better with this and Christy wondered for a moment if training could have turned that girl into a spy. She was much more unshakeable than her peers, it held promise. She let that thought go as it didn't fit in this world at all.

"I should probably get going." Christy stammered and stood up a bit nervously. The rest was Bella's show, at least for now.

Bella escorted her to the door and gave her a pleading look, which Christy just answered with a gentle squeeze of Bella's shoulder. "Yeah, see you later kiddo." Charlie managed, but he still sounded shaken. Bella would explain that Christy was an albino, that she was upset being stared at, and that was why she had the sunglasses. Bella would shame the suspicion out of Charlie if this worked and they wouldn't be faced with him suggesting Bella not hang out with Christy after this.

Christy left, leaving Bella responsible for fixing this. Bella was uncertain about it, but Christy liked the lesson it would teach, not to rely on the vampires to take care of every problem. Bella needed to be self reliant, and see herself as capable again. Edward had destroyed that in her. He was poison in many ways, but it wasn't up to her to say that to Bella now. No, she just did what she could to help the girl get her own strength back for when Edward's controlling behavior, and he, came back.

This started off as something to do while she waited for the Cullens, and someone to talk to, but Bella was growing on Christy and she was starting to think about all the things that were wrong in that girl's story. Christy walked away with her hands in her jacket pockets, and smiled just a little as she heard the scolding tone in Bella's voice when she said Charlie had stared and it made Christy so uncomfortable she had left.

…

As Christy walked through the streets of Port Angeles she sighed. Bella wasn't enough, the girl had to go to school, and had a job, and it wasn't fair to rely on her for any and all entertainment. Today was a prime example, as Christy was on her own completely for today in spite of the fact that they'd dealt with Charlie's suspicions so well he was no longer giving Christy searching looks. Christy was now wandering the city for something to do and if she happened to run across a meal she'd take it.

"Hey Ms. I wear sunglasses at night!" A teasing male voice called out and Christy couldn't help but turn her head at the familiar voice. Jacob Black was grinning at her from the entrance of a store in the mall she was walking passed . He must have just stepped out, or Christy knows she'd have caught his scent. His dog smell was stronger now. Christy frowned a little as she realized it was very strong indeed, and she looked passed him to see two other boys right behind him.

She can't help but smile at his friendly look, but she was a bit uneasy about running into him after what all Billy had to say about her going to the movies with his kids on the phone. "Hey Jacob."

"Hey guys, this is the girl I was telling you about." He called back to the other boys, getting them to step outside as well. "Christy, these lunk-heads are my friends, Quil," He pointed to one, "And Embry." The other waved just a little at her.

"Nice to meet you guys." Christy gave them a polite smile, noticing how sharp the dog smell was coming from Embry. He must be the boy who was going to shift first, she thought of the book and wondered how soon he was going to shift. He smelled almost the same as Sam and the others now, and he also looked tall and muscular. The other two boys were clearly not as developed as he was yet, getting there, but not there yet. "What are you up to?" She glanced at her watch to see it was after school hours now, but they had to have booked it to the city once school let out to be here, or these guys had skipped.

"Just hanging out." Jacob offered, but Christy noticed one of the guys had a bag from JC Penney's in his hand. She hid her smirk at the cover up for shopping, as if that wasn't cool enough. "How about you hang out with us?" He offered nicely and there was a chuckle from one of his friends, as Christy found herself conflicted. "We were about to get a bite to eat."

"I already ate." Christy lied, as her mind debated about what to do. "But I guess I could sit with you all while you eat. Gives me a chance to get off my feet, I've been walking a lot today." Billy Black would be pissed. "But I heard your dad doesn't really want you to spend time with me."

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him." Jacob grinned, not realizing his dad had a reason for his demands, but Christy was bored and could see the benefits of being friendly with the wolves, before they became wolves.

"Look, I have fangs." Quil laughed as two fries dangled from his mouth after they got their food. Christy saw a good opening and took it, the teasing came easily in this group.

"And look, your fangs are as limp as your dick." She smirked as the other two boys hooted and laughed, while Quil went a very deep red. "You're not gonna get any blood with that, just like you won't get any," She didn't need to finish her sentence, the boys were already causing a scene with their amusement.

Some 'wolf to be' slapped her on the back in congratulation, and Christy could feel the extra strength that boy didn't realize he had yet. He was lucky he was slapping a vampire's back, or he could have hurt some girl.

"Man, I can't believe Jake actually found a cool girl for us to hang out with." Embry smiled at her.

"I'm so cool I'm cold." Christy smirked at the play on words the boys would catch later, after they changed. The story about cold ones would be on their minds then.

"That's not a good advertising for your snatch." Quil gave her an evil smile, obviously getting even. If he thought he'd get her to blush he was disappointed, because Christy couldn't, but she didn't even let him embarrass her. She'd worked with Mystique after all, no teenage boy would be able to outdo Mystique at this game.

"Oh how cute, you are trying to joke like you know what you're talking about." Christy smirked at him and shook her head, before turning in her seat obviously, to make a play of ignoring him.

It was as she looked away from the rather rambunctious boys that she saw the two other people walking their way. The boy was young looking, early teens most likely and the girl looked significantly older. She frowned and stopped walking to stand at the side of their table with her arms crossed in front of her. "I give you guys a ride here and you're supposed to meet me at the car when it's time to go. That was the agreement."

"Oh man, sorry Leah." Jake spoke and Christy found herself studying Leah, and what must be her brother Seth. Five soon to be wolves, she was surrounded. She did the best friendly smile she could manage and bumped Jake in the back with her elbow to get his attention. "Oh, Leah, Seth, this is our new friend Christy." He waved between them in a very brief, barely done, introduction.

"Nice to meet you." Christy said, while taking in the woman she'd spared from even more heartache. Leah had long hair at this time, but then many of these 'soon to be wolves' did. It would go away.

"You too." Leah nodded at her and then glanced at the guys again. "So, we need to head back. You know my mom said I had to be out of the city before dark." There was a small cringe in Leah's expression that was so quickly hidden the teenagers wouldn't catch it, but Christy suspected she knew where that rule came from. It was probably new to this girl, if it even existed at all. She could be lying to the boys because she wasn't willing to be here after dark just yet.

Christy said her goodbyes and gave vague responses to comments about having to get together sometime. She wanted to see what trouble she'd get into from this visit before making more.

…

"Too bad you don't eat animals. Apparently there are some bears getting too close to town." Bella muttered during an odd commercial on TV that had a bear looking into a car. "Hikers are talking about them, they must be huge based on the descriptions."

Christy glanced at Bella for a moment, unsure how to respond, because she knew those weren't bears at all, those were the Quileute wolves. "Humans have encroached on wildlife habitat to the point many animals have no choice but to move into the neighborhoods." She went with a generic response.

"And that's why there are more than enough humans for vampires to eat, I got it." Bella smirked just a little and gave Christy a shake of her head. "You don't have to keep telling me that."

"Alright." Christy conceded, as she started to think of one of the assignments she wanted to give Bella. It could wait though, there were other things to be done first. Research on endangered species could happen later, even after the Cullens returned, but there were some things that coven would not want to let her do with Bella. "Are you ready for another task?"

"What are you thinking?" Bella turned the tv on mute and faced her.

"I think it's time to meet the elderly." Christy could see the confusion on Bella's face. "One it will show you what you can look forward to as a human, and Two they can tell you how the world has changed in their lifetime. You can expect it will always be changing, and what was once considered an 'adult' isn't now." Christy spoke more quietly, in response to something the Cullen's had incorrectly assumed when they left Bella. "Only some people get that old. Many people die long before they reach that age, but we'll go with the optimistic view of a human lifespan."

"What do you want me to do?" Bella frowned in confusion.

"Visit a facility where there are some elderly, find a few people who are still aware enough to be able to interview. Pick out questions you think will help you understand what the world was like, don't ask them about their health, that will not make them want to talk to you, ask them about when they were your age, or the age you are thinking is a good age to stay forever. Find out enough you could write a good article for a paper or magazine if you needed to."

Bella let out a huff of air. "Your assignments are harder than the ones my teachers give me."

Christy smiled. "I used to teach college classes, I would hope my assignments are harder." Bella's eyes widened at that nugget of information. "But seriously, self reflection at the scale I'm asking you to do it is going to be hard. I need it to be hard, and you need it to be, so that when you make up your mind we both know you made the right choice." Christy also thought of the other people Bella may need to defend her decision to, and this research would give her the tools to prove herself.

"Okay." Bella sighed. "I'll find a place to go and do this. How many people should I talk to." Christy could easily see the introverted girl wasn't looking forward to this, and was forcing herself to agree to it. Christy only asked for three interviews, it wasn't a lot, but there would be other research the girl would be doing in the next few months. Three should be enough to give her an idea.

…..

The problem with giving Bella work to do was that it took up Bella's time, Christy thought as she tossed the dead child pornographer into the Puget Sound. Bella was working on her interviews and tomorrow she would be working at the store. Christy had time to kill.

She turned, now no longer hungry, and started to make her way back to Forks. She was getting much better at finding her way back, but today she just followed her own scent back through the woods. She was careful at the points where she had to cross roads through the woods, either going too fast to be seen or at a human pace. The sun was almost down as she got to the outskirts of the town, and she heard swearing and a clank that sounded like metal on metal.

Curiosity is what made her slow down and make her way closer to see what was happening, that and dread about sitting in the house in the dark with nothing but her radio for yet another night. She wasn't really eager for her own plans for the night.

"Fuck!" An angry woman seemed to growl the word out and there was another clank of metal on metal. Christy stepped just out of the treeline to see that the long black haired females back was facing an SUV and the spare tire at her feet, along with the pieces of a jack answered why she was upset. It didn't look like she really knew what she was doing.

The scent was strong, and Christy frowned when she recognized the smell of fear coming of the woman. She looked harder to see her looking along the darkened road, back where she'd come from and in the direction she wanted to go, but something made Christy think the woman wasn't hoping some guy would come by to help her out. It seemed like the woman was afraid someone would come by and find her here. It was just something about the way the woman moved. Christy trusted her own instincts on this and moved quickly to the other side of the road and into the tree line to see what was happening from the other side.

Leah Clearwater looked frustrated and upset. "Damn, is this your idea of luck Annie?" Christy muttered to herself, thinking of the girl that granted her luck before Christy left that world. It couldn't be a coincidence that Christy was here, facing this woman yet again when the woman needed help. Apparently the way to the packs heart was going to be through their only female wolf.

Still, Christy stood still, unsure if it was Annie's influence or not. There was no place near her, no car she could point to and say she'd driven. If Christy came out of the woods to help Leah, she'd be coming out of nowhere with no story she could give that would not be suspicious. It was a mistake that Mystique had told her to rarely make, and only in dire situations.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Leah yelled and there was a smell of blood in the air, blood and fear. Christy started to move instantly, stepping out of the woods and toward the young woman struggling with her flat tire.

Christy made sure to move at a human pace and she made a lot of noise so she didn't startle the woman. The scent of fear increased as Leah looked up toward her, and the heart beat from the woman sped up. "Hey, Leah right?" Christy smiled and made her shoulders relax quickly. "Oh god, I'm so glad you're here. I tried hiking and I don't have a clue where I am. It got dark and I thought I'd be stuck out here forever." Christy only took in enough air to talk, and did her best to look nonthreatening. The smell of blood wasn't abundant, it was probably not a serious wound. Now that Christy was closer she could tell.

"Do I know you?" Leah's voice was a tad tighter, tad higher, than it had been in the McDonalds over a week ago.

Christy stepped over a tree trunk as she approached the ditch separating her from the road. "Christy, Jake introduced us in Port Angeles." It took a moment but the woman's eyes seemed to relax, even as Christy crossed the ditch and stood in the headlights so that Leah could see who she was.

"God, I'm glad it was you. I was worried some creep would stop." Leah's words were so quiet they were obviously not meant to be heard. Christy forced herself not to grimace once she had confirmation about what caused the scent of fear in the air. "You know how to change a tire? If not I'm afraid I'll only be keeping you company as we're both stuck here."

"I've done it a few times. I should be able to get this changed." Christy said as she moved around the SUV to get a closer look at what was happening. There was a small drop of blood on the cement and Leah's hand was clenched tight. The blood was barely visible, but it was clear it must hurt. Christy lowered herself to the ground and worked the jack. The smell of blood was human, with just a hint of wolf, but not enough wolf to cover the human scent just yet and it was a rare test of her control. Christy knew her will was iron, but she hadn't used it in this way before. Christy just gritted her teeth and focused on the tire. "Any chance you can give me a ride to my place?" Christy had to ask, because not getting a ride would be more suspicious, but she wasn't looking forward to being in a vehicle with a bleeding woman for any length of time.

"Of course, I wouldn't leave you out here. Who knows what…" Leah's words trailed off and Christy knew where her thoughts had gone.

"Good." Christy gave a grateful smile to Leah before working off the lug nuts on the tire. She did remember to look like it was hard, and she did her very best to not overtighten the lug nuts once she had the spare on the vehicle.

When they got into the car, Christy cracked open her window. The drive was slightly awkward, and they ended up talking about Jacob and his friends to start with because that was all they knew for sure they had in common.

"Why were you hiking?" Christy could see Leah taking in the fact that Christy had no supplies, as the conversation moved away from teenage boys.

"It wasn't so much hiking as walking into the woods." Christy grimaced as if upset about the day. She wasn't thrilled with lies she knew would be found out quickly once the woman shifted, but then she'd have to understand that Christy couldn't really tell the truth. Even the wolves weren't telling the truth to those they knew were changing, so it wouldn't be a shock Christy lied. "Boredom can be more dangerous than I thought. Bella had things to do and I thought I could just kill a little time trying to see what animals are out there. I didn't expect to get lost, I mean how hard it is to stay to one path?"

A small smirk crossed Leah's lips. "Apparently it was much harder than you thought."

"Thanks." Christy looked at the road and recognized it. "Oh, turn left here." She noticed that Leah used her good hand for that, and that she was careful to not put the palm of her injured hand on the steering wheel. Still it wasn't a horrible mess and Leah was saying nothing about it, so if Christy were human she wouldn't know Leah cut herself trying to use the jack. The girl was hiding that pain, and somehow that wasn't a surprise that she'd do that.

"You don't live too close to anything do you?" Leah asked as they drove along the driveway that had trees canopying it and twists and turns that kept the house hidden for a while.

"Not really. It is in the middle of nowhere." Christy glanced at Leah as they made their way along the driveway. "It isn't my place. I'm staying at my cousin's place. He and his family moved recently, and I needed a place." They made the last turn and the house appeared to come out of the woods, out of nowhere. Leah took in a slightly surprised breath. "It's crazy huge for one person, so I just closed up some of it and don't even use it."

"That would be crazy huge for my entire family." Leah muttered. "Who the hell lived here?"

The SUV came to a stop in front of the stairs to the front door. Christy turned to Leah. "The Cullens." She could see the widening of eyes and then the house got another long stare from the driver.

"Cullens huh? That explains why Jacob and the others were begging me to not mention you when we got back to La Push." Leah shook her head and gave Christy an odd look. "You've got some weird Romeo and Juliet thing going with Jacob?"

Christy couldn't help but chuckle. "Not quite, I like him, and like spending time with him. I just don't like getting him in trouble for it." She shook her head and sighed. "I don't call him, I don't arrange to meet him anywhere, but if I run into him I am not rude. I know his dad would prefer I had nothing to do with him, your dad probably wouldn't want to hear you ran into me either."

"It's so stupid, using a legend to justify this." Leah seemed to growl, it was a weak human growl, but still it conveyed her irritation well. "It isn't your fault some stupid legends of our tribe had the Cullen name in it. It was a stupid coincidence and they all act like its fact."

"Yeah well," Christy wondered if her planned words would be remembered at the right time. "You can't do anything but play the hand you're dealt in life and if it is a crappy hand you just do what you can with it. You don't fold in the game of life, you just keep drawing cards looking for a better hand."

"That's some bullshit there." Leah's teeth made a sound as they ground together for just a moment. "Sometimes nothing fixes the crapfest your life becomes and the next card just makes it more shitty."

Christy stared at the girl who thought she had it so bad, and knowing her life was only going to get worse over the next month or two it was hard to hold her help back. Too hard. Leah's attitude wasn't going to make surviving the next few months easy for her, perhaps it may even make it impossible. "Your parents will get worried if you take too long to get home."

After going into the house Christy made sure to light the lamps quickly so it would look like she had electricity from the outside. Once the car was out of sight Christy blew out some of the lamps and just left one on. It was enough light for her, for now. She pulled out the Harry Potter book she was working on and started to read, hoping that her evening would continue to be uneventful. Her scent was all over Leah's car, and if the woman ran across any wolves on her way home Christy was sure to hear from them. Hopefully she was lucky and that didn't happen.

Harry Potter helped to distract her from the thoughts in her head. The wolves to be deserved more help than the tribe was giving them; they deserved some warning about what was happening to them.


	4. Chapter 4

"Can you even do that?" Bella's voice was quiet and her words slow.

"I think I can try and if it gets hard I can leave." Christy sat back in the rocking chair in the corner of Bella's room. "You can still finish what we start."

"And you won't bite anyone? I mean there will be blood all over the place. I know hospitals, I've been to a few." Bella looked concerned, and Christy just gave her a small smile. The test with sitting in a car with Leah gave Christy some idea of what she could handle and she would be cautious.

"I might hold my breath at times, if it gets bad. You'll have to be the talking one." Christy liked that it put Bella in charge yet again. "But I promise you I will control myself. We also won't go near an OR or the ER."

"I don't understand why we're doing this." Bella frowned.

"It's part of the 'no regrets' package. You need to see and understand this, to see how it affects other people, and know you are giving that up. You need to be okay with that, because like I already said, there are no do overs with this decision."

"I feel like you're trying to turn me into a reporter, instead of a vampire." Bella grumbled quietly as she pulled her tai chi friendly outfit out. Louder, she spoke to Christy instead of just to herself. "I'm gonna change in the bathroom and then we can go."

"Sure," Christy didn't even try to hide her smile at Bella's grumbling. The girl was a tad shy and Christy was making her talk to a lot of people.

They pulled up to the Port Angeles Hospital, because it was larger. Christy followed a nervous Bella into the front doors and took a tentative sniff. So far so good. "Fifth floor." Christy pointed out as they waited for the elevator.

"I've never wanted kids, I already know this." Bella grumbled. "Seeing a baby isn't going to change that."

"Well, if you're right then we are just confirming that." Christy smiled. She remembered the books, but there was always something off about Bella having a baby. It wasn't likely Christy wouldn't mention it was possible when Edward came back, but this decision needed to be made without the input of the alternate Bella that had gone through that life. This Bella was already changed from that one, and before any final decisions are made Christy will talk about the books. Bella just needed to know her own mind before then. "And I'm not likely to doubt you once you have the facts and say that to me. I never wanted kids either, but there was a short period of time when I helped raise some little ones, and I've adopted teenagers before."

They stepped alone into the elevator and Bella turned her attention to Christy. "What happened?"

Christy's jaw clenched for a moment. "The little ones died in the apocalypse and my teenagers grew up and helped me flee my last world."

Bella grasped her hand and squeezed it in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

The elevator opened and they stepped out, following the signs. The wall of glass had the curtains opened and Christy moved to stand before them with Bella. Small, helpless, babies squirmed in small basinets. "My friend, the one with the kids, had a baby, but she died before we became close. I buried her little girl." Christy whispered, lost in that memory and found her arm caressed as her hand was held firmly. "I'm sorry, I'm messing up your assignment." Christy gave Bella a small smile of apology.

"Do you wish you could have kids now?" Bella asked quietly.

"No, not really. I unofficially adopt whenever I want someone to care about, I don't need to have a baby." Christy gave Bella a small smile. "You're my baby now, I've adopted you."

Bella's jaw dropped, and her face started to get a bit of a pink tinge to it. "I'm not, I'm an adult. I'm eighteen."

"I know, which means I have it pretty good. It'll only take a few months to raise you." Christy teased. "And if you stay human I'll suck it up and change your diapers if you need it when you get older."

Bella's expression became a mix of disgusted and shocked. "And that is the first time I could believe your lie about being related to Emmett."

They went about the plan of looking at the babies and then moving to the children's area to see some kids playing, but Christy was doing her best not to smile at the fact that Bella didn't clutch her chest in pain when she mentioned a Cullen today. Bella moved to talk to a few parents about being parents, and Christy stood back and let the girl loose to do that.

Once it looked like Bella was doing alright Christy got her attention and pointed to the door. Christy was fine, even with all the fast little hearts beating in the room, but the noise of the playing children grated on her, since she could hear so much more than normal now. Christy left Bella to it and took a break.

She got into an elevator to make her way down to the ground floor for a walk around the building, but the smell of wolves in it surprised her. Christy took in a few more breaths to try and identify the smell, to see if she knew them. It wasn't pleasant to be in the small box with it, but after a little while working on it Christy could smell the underlying scents. "Leah." She muttered, a bit concerned about how much wolf scent there was now. It hadn't been that long since Leah started to show signs of this.

When the door opened to the ground floor Christy stepped out and scented the air to find that the wolf scent had been here as well, probably on the way up or down. Christy followed it a little while and came to the parking lot in time to see a subdued Leah sitting in the passenger seat of that SUV with an older woman driving. Seth sat in the back.

Harry Clearwater's heart trouble must have started, Christy thought with a bit of concern. He was going to die soon, and Leah and Seth were both going to shift. The scent was strong, so that wasn't going to take much longer. Leah wasn't ready, Seth was much more resilient than she was, but she'd also been through too much already.

Christy walked up to the reception desk. "Is Harry Clearwater able to have visitors?" She asked quietly, while debating her sudden ideas worth.

Once she had her answer Christy ran passed Bella and told her she'd meet her by the truck. It was clear the human girl thought the hospital was too difficult for her, and Christy didn't correct her this time. Christy then made it up two more floors and wandered slowly towards room 515.

The man was here for heart trouble, so Christy was really going to have to be careful with this. She knew her being here would scare him, but she also knew that Leah needed her daddy's help while the man was still alive and she couldn't afford to lose much time on this. Still, how do you tell a man that he was going to die in just a couple months at the most. How do you tell him that his little girl was going to face shifting and be trapped as a member of her ex-boyfriend's pack, trapped and forced to see his thoughts about the woman he left her for.

The sound of the T.V. switching channels came from the doorway of 515 and Christy stopped just out of view of the door and risked taking a deep breath. She could smell the sickness, medicine, and some other scents on the floor, but she didn't smell anything she couldn't handle.

The room was white and the man was looking a little pale as he stared up at the television, not noticing his visitor yet. Christy took in the heart monitor with some concern. She took in his features and could see he wasn't really that old, though he clearly started his family later than Charlie had.

He must have felt eyes on him because he started to glance her way. Christy made sure to look away, so her eyes weren't the first things he saw. "Mr. Clearwater?"

"Yes?" He sounded cautious, but not nervous. His words were just slightly slurred, and Christy glanced at the IV going into his arm wondering if she'd luck out and something in that concoction would keep him calmer.

She then looked at him and spoke, "My name is Christy, I'm the person who saved your daughter in Port Angeles." She took a glance at the heart monitor that was starting to move just a little faster as his eyes caught hers. "I needed to talk with you, and just you, about her."

"What are you doing in a hospital?" His voice was just a bit rougher and she could hear his heart going faster. She needed to calm him down.

"My friend, Bella, had an assignment she needed to do here." Christy told him gently. "And I was on my way out when I smelled that there was a wolf in the hospital." She took another, obvious, sniff of the air in his room. She could smell wolf even more clearly in here than in the elevator. "I don't agree with the tribe's policy on not telling them they are changing. What if they change in the middle of a mall? Or even if they manage to get away from people, what if no one finds them when it happens and they panic?"

"What?" His eyes widened as he stared at her.

She could give him a longer story, but she needed to get the important parts out in case he couldn't talk long. "Both of your kids are changing, they both smell of wolf. It should be relatively soon." He sucked in a shocked gasp. "The pack mind will be very hard on Leah, I'm sure you can understand why that would be." He was paling a bit.

"How do you know…" His voice was a scared whisper.

"You've heard the rumors that some of my kind have powers?" Christy thought hard on how she'd get away with telling this man more than she should possibly know. "It's true. Alice, she can see the future." She was supposed to know the Cullens, so she'd use that yet again. "I hate being the bearer of bad news, but Mr. Clearwater, there is so much you need to do for your family, and you don't have a lot of time to do it."

Christy saw the moment he understood what she wasn't saying and it was hard to watch the tears fill up his eyes. She stood still, just inside his room as he struggled to compose himself. Having seen many people realize they were dying soon, she was impressed by how strong the man was. He had tears on his cheeks, but his eyes were fierce and held a determination. "Why?" His voice cracked, but she understood and she took two more steps into the room.

"I'm a very different type of protector, but that is what I am as well. I've met Leah, and I've heard some of the future, and I want better for her. Seth, he's resilient, friendly, he bounces back, but Leah is brittle and easily broken right now." She explained softly and watched him stare into her red eyes as if he couldn't reconcile what he was seeing with what he was hearing. "She was going to shift on the day you die, and those two things would likely always be linked in her mind. She can't lose the man who could teach her what she needs to know just when she needs it. You need to break the rules and you need to tell her now. If she doesn't believe you, I'll show her what I am if you want." He swallowed hard and she let out a soft breath of air. "I wish I could help you more, but you wouldn't want this life."

"No, I wouldn't." His jaw clenched and his fists did as well, but the increase in tears explained what battle he was fighting. It wasn't weakness to cry when you learn about something like this, but the man was struggling to stay strong in front of her.

"I don't have a phone, but you are welcome to come by if you need to. I live at the Cullen's place now, and I could call you from a pay phone if you want to avoid being alone with me." She gave him a small smile.

"I can't, I can't right now." His voice was rough and Christy nodded. She moved slowly over to the side of his bed and took the pen and paper sitting on the nightstand. She wrote out her current address.

"You can even leave something in the mailbox on the street if you want, instructions. I'll check it daily." She told him and put the pen back down. She frowned slightly at having to hurt the man like this. "And I'm sorry you have to deal with this, I'll help as much as I can." She told him and turned to leave.

His whispered thank you was heard even though she was out of the room when he managed to say it. She took that as a hopeful sign that he'd do something while he could.

Christy made her way outside to wait for Bella. Christy knew it was cold, because the humans coming out of the hospital tended to grip their coats closed or zip them up quickly after stepping outside. Christy made sure to fidget and grip at her own coat as she waited for Bella, so no one would suspect she didn't feel it herself.

Since she was watching she could see the moment Bella came out of the hospital and noticed her. It felt nice to see that the moment Bella saw her she started to smile. Christy hadn't been feeling too good about having to talk with Harry and tell him he was dying soon, so Bella's smile was more than welcome. Apparently talking to parents hadn't ruined Bella's day. Christy suspected it was because this human didn't have a biological clock ticking away for kids.

"So, after we feed you what do you want to do?" Christy asked

"I don't know." Bella frowned just a little. Christy didn't offer up an idea right away, she just got into the truck and waited for Bella to start it up.

The parking lots of three restaurants were crammed and Christy frowned as she watched Bella give up before parking yet again. It wasn't until they drove passed a sign with the time and date that it dawned on Christy why they were having trouble finding a place to have dinner. "Okay, I'll admit time gets away from me, but I really didn't think I'd miss this." She gave the girl a small teasing smile. "I've asked you out on Valentine's day." Christy was hoping it wasn't going to cause the girl to backslide. "So I guess this is a date."

Bella's skin darkened and Christy could smell the blush from across the cab of the truck. She just swallowed the venom in her mouth and gave Bella a teasing sexy pout. "What? I didn't, I mean," Bella stammered and Christy let herself laugh at the way the girl was tripping over words now.

"Relax, I don't bite." Christy chuckled, "or at least I don't bite you."

"Funny, very funny." Bella muttered, having reined her embarrassment in at the teasing.

"We aren't going to get into a sit down restaurant without a huge wait, so just pick some place you like and don't worry about it." Christy spoke softly and gave Bella a gentle smile. "I have time, nothing but time."

"I don't really feel like going out and watching all the happy couples." Bella spoke so quietly and Christy frowned.

"How about we just go to the store, get some deli food and a movie and go back to your place?" Christy offered. She smiled a little and teased. "We'll skip the romantic candlelight, since I'm apparently rather flammable." Bella gave her a weak smile, as they switched their plans for the night.

They avoided romantic movies easily, but it was hard to avoid all romance. Bella sighed heavily as the hero of the action movie kissed a woman. Christy remembered missions as hectic as what the characters had gone through, and the nights after spent with Mystique in her bed. It wasn't all fiction, the need to prove you were still alive after nearly dying.

Bella turned the movie off and was up quickly, looking over her father's collection. "How about Tomb Raider or Xmen?"

Christy blinked as the choices hit her. "Ah," She stared at the movie she hadn't heard a hint of in years. "Oh god, I didn't think of that." She muttered as her wide eyes took in the cover. It was easy to guess who the other actors were supposed to be and the blue woman looked nothing like Mystique.

Bella turned toward her, "What didn't you think of?"

"I ah," Christy looked away from the dvd cover and into curious eyes. "My last world was one I'd read about in comic books." Christy ran a hand through her hair. "I really don't want to watch an Xmen movie. They chased me out of an entire reality. I'm just not up to that."

"Xmen?" Bella's jaw dropped, "But that's…" The girl didn't finish her sentence.

Christy's jaw clenched for a moment. "I was a mutant before I became a vampire." The girl handled sitting next to a vampire watching movies without blinking, but she seemed stunned now.

That cut the evening short, as Christy wasn't in the mood for movies, and when Bella's dad came home she took the chance to leave.

…

"Are you gifted?" Bella asked as they worked through tai chi poses the next morning before Bella had to go to school. "Because vampires that had some special something end up gifted and if you were a mutant, maybe you have a gift."

Christy took a deep breath as she considered what to say. "Do you know anything about the Xmen?"

"No, not much. My dad likes that kind of movie, but I don't really." Bella admitted.

"My powers have to do with death, I take in energy the soul gives off when a person dies and I use it to create portals to other worlds. With feeding I'm too distracted by bloodlust to see if I still have them." She gave a weak, fake smile. "I was a vampire of sorts before this happened to me. If I have my power it wouldn't really do much here. Especially since my body is so very solid."

"Bella!" Charlie interrupted them and Christy and Bella both turned to see the man standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "You'll be late for school if you don't get a move on."

"He's rarely here when she gets ready, but the time he is, he assumes she doesn't know when to leave the house." Christy thought to herself.

"I guess I'll take off." Christy said out loud, so he could hear. Charlie smiled at her when Christy started off while Bella went in to grab her bag. He had warmed up to her again.

…..

"I got your note. Sent Leah with it, didn't you?" Christy spoke softly as she stood in the doorway of room 515 with the paper still in her hands. It had taken a few days, but Harry Clearwater asked to see her. He wasn't waiting to be released to do this, so he clearly understood how valuable his time was.

"Does she really smell like wolf?" Harry asked quietly and Christy took his resigned expression to mean she could step into the room further, to come to the side of his hospital bed.

"Yes, she does." Christy answered him and watched him sigh heavily.

"There has never been a woman that changed, no stories about that. We've always talked about the men in the tribe shifting. I can't even understand how this is happening." He shook his head. "And Seth is too young."

"You have to play the hands you're dealt." She spoke slowly, thinking of what she'd told Leah the last time she'd spoken with her. She didn't want to bring up the fact that Victoria must be making vampires for the wolves to keep getting more pack members. The man's heart wasn't that strong, after all.

"That is what you've done isn't it? You don't seem like a normal bloodsucker to me." He spoke thoughtfully.

"You haven't met a lot of vampires, you just have stories." Christy countered.

"Still, to go around saving women from rapists." He hissed that last word. "That is a bit different than any story we've passed down."

"I'm not the only one like me." Christy told him as she moved to stand by his IV drip. "The Cullens are also not the only ones living off animals." She looked into his eyes, "But there are also bigger monsters than you've seen around here too."

"How old are you?" He asked and from the look on his face he hadn't planned to ask that.

Christy smirked and shook her head. "I sound ancient, don't I?" She paused for a moment. "I'm actually younger than you. I just tend to live a busy life and I've learned more than I ever wanted to." She could see he wanted more, so she put a hand over her chest for a moment. "I haven't been human for a little over ten years." Not a lie, but not enough of the truth.

The silence was tense, but she let him think and took the time to look around the room. She wasn't looking at him when he talked again. "Would you really be willing to show my kids what a vampire is?"

"Without some proof of something, I'd be surprised if anyone believed your tribal stories." Christy turned back to him. "The wolves would have been a good choice, to show them that, but the other Elders won't change the rules fast enough. The treaty doesn't say I can't tell anyone I want about what I am. I'm your loophole. I can show them simple things, like my speed and strength, and it's enough they'll believe I'm not human."

"If the others even find out I've met with you alone," Harry shook his head and his eyes were troubled.

"The minute one of your kids shifts people will know I was involved." Christy warned him. "What we're doing won't stay a secret long."

"Just long enough." Harry sighed. "I have to do this, for my kids. You're our tribe's enemy and you're all I have to help me with my kids."

"I don't think of myself as your enemy." She knew the value of shifting that idea fast. "I'm different, but that doesn't mean I have to hate you, or your wolves. Our goals are similar and that's enough for me."

"I'm supposed to be released tomorrow." He said after a long uncomfortable silence. "Guess they don't recognize a dying man like you do." Christy grimaced at his bitter words. "I'd like to bring my kids to see you." They arranged a day and a time. Christy was going to get some firewood and see if the fireplace worked before they came over. The house was too cold for a sickly human.

….

"University of Alaska is the last of them." Bella said with a heavy sigh as she sealed the last of her college applications. "So that's my three schools. What do I do now?"

"Well, now you apply for financial aid." Christy told her while looking over the envelopes and noticing that none of these schools were in sunny places. Being the only vampire in Bella's life, she knew it was done for her and she felt touched that Bella was making sure Christy could come with her. Christy hadn't put any limits on Bella for applying to anything.

"And now that I've finished my interviews with the elderly and the new parents?" Bella asked about the other half of their plan; the preparation for being a vampire.

Christy's ideas had been too intense for so early in this and she'd been struggling with what to do next with Bella. "I want you to research endangered animals in the area and be able to identify them." Bella's eyes widened. "You can just focus on animals large enough they could be hunted, but you're determined to be an animal drinker, so it's nature time."

"That won't take very long, even with my lousy internet connection." Bella said, puzzled sounding.

Christy gave her a small smirk. "That's because it's part one. You're going hunting with me and you'll tell me what I can try and eat."

"What? But I can't find," Bella's eyes were too wide and Christy saw where she'd made a mistake.

"I'll eat your way for one time so you can see it done. I'm not looking forward to it, but I should have a back up diet anyhow, so you'll teach me what I can and can't have in the area." She looked at Bella's wide eyes. "We'll tell your dad we're hiking for the day."

"You'll, you'll take me hunting?" Bella's voice was almost a gasp and Christy set the papers in her hand down as she studied the girl. "But I thought it wasn't possible, that a vampire would," Her words trailed off.

"I am not undisciplined. I've been hunting in cities, and I don't kill everyone in the area when I find prey. I can take you out safely, or I wouldn't have suggested it. I promise I won't risk you like that." Christy spoke quickly, but she frowned, unhappy with Bella's suspicions.

"No, no, I was just told it wasn't possible." Bella's voice was quieter, and hurt sounding.

"Oh, well, if I prehunt and take you out when I'm barely hungry it can be done." Christy explained a bit more. "Also I'm not denying myself the natural diet, so my control is just better, that and my will is strong. I'm not going to eat you." Her voice dipped deeper and she smirked, "Unless you want me to."

Bella blushed a little. "It really doesn't sound right when you say it like that." She managed, but there was a hint of a smile. Christy just smiled wider.

She made her way back to the Cullen's house and grabbed a few things on her way, because she had visitors coming today.

Four hours later every door that could close was closed in the large house, and it helped to give the fire a chance in warming the main living space. Christy had a large stack of firewood standing next to the fireplace and she was very careful when she fed the fire. Still, she was going to be happy when she could stop feeding it.

She also had a large barrel of water in the room, just in case. It was odd and had taken some work to steal and then refill in the house, but it made her feel better. She had no idea exactly how flammable a vampire was.

The curtains were all pulled open, so there wasn't a need for more light and the Clearwaters sat on the couch and chair, having just arrived a couple minutes ago. Leah had given Christy a questioning look and Christy just ignored it for prepping the fire.

"I wanted to share some of the tribal stories today." Harry started as Christy sat down, on a chair a bit separate from the others.

"Come on now, I'm sure Christy doesn't want to hear old fairy tales." Leah said, trying to spare them the stories, but Christy just turned her sunglass covered eyes to Harry. She reached up and removed them and set them on the table beside her.

"I'd love to hear them." She said, but she heard the slight gasp of Seth as he looked at her eyes.

"Red eyes, " He whispered to quiet to be heard by anyone but Christy, but Leah turned to him. He spoke louder, "Red eyes." And Leah looked over at her.

Christy could see the widening of her eyes as she took in Christy's red eyes, and she could see Seth's jaw was hanging opened. "Relax, I don't bite good people." Christy smiled just a little and ignored how the wolf scent got stronger when the wolves to be had pounding hearts.

"Dad?" Seth asked even as Leah stared.

"Yes, Christy is a cold one." Harry spoke, his voice resigned sounding. "A vampire."

"That's impossible." Leah muttered, and Christy leaned forward in her chair.

"I am a vampire. I only kill rapists, murders and drug dealers, but I do drink blood." She glanced over at Seth as well.

"You need to know that the wolves are real." Harry added. "Vampires are real as well. We have a treaty with Christy, and with the Cullens, but other vampires are a direct threat to our people."

"The Cullens are really vampires?" Seth asked and Christy grimaced. She hadn't wanted to bring that up, but given the legends it wasn't possible to avoid.

"This isn't funny." Leah added and Christy sighed. She stood up and raced out of the house at full vamp speed. When she was out there she stood in front of a tree until she saw the three in the house move to the window, and she ripped it out of the ground and tossed it in a way to avoid blocking the driveway.

"Oh my god." Harry actually muttered, even knowing the plan.

Christy was back in her seat even while the rest of them were still staring at that tree, and her voice startled them. "It isn't funny, but it's true." Leah spun around the fastest.

"You're a vampire." Leah managed to say it.

"Yes," Christy held Leah's eyes.

The tense silence lasted for a while, before Harry spoke up. "The young people of our tribe are starting to change. Some of them are becoming wolves again." Christy turned her eyes to him, and noticed she wasn't the only one. "Our family is descendant of the old pack, and it is a great honor to be that, or to be chosen to protect our people." He looked into his children's eyes. "It is also a great responsibility." He started to talk about the old legends, about the wolves and the vampires that came across their tribe so many years ago. He mentioned the Cullens and the treaty with them. He probably never had such a captive audience in his children before.

Christy knew it was considered an honor that she was being allowed to hear these legends.

Once Harry stopped talking Christy glanced at the fire and very carefully got up and put the firewood in to get it going stronger.

"So it's all true." Leah spoke quietly.

"I love you both and I am so proud of you." Harry spoke to his children and Christy stayed with her focus on the fire, pretending she wasn't there so they could talk. Still, she was very careful about the fire as she tended it. "Our tribe doesn't warn our young when they realize that they are changing into a wolf. It was thought to be a rite of passage, but Christy pointed out a few issues with that. Wolves smell different to each other, and to vampires. It is possible to have some warning."

"Sam's a wolf, isn't he?" Leah's voice was flat and unhappy. "That gang he hangs with, all those boys are wolves."

"Yes, and there are more changing." Christy turned and moved away from the fierce heat of her now strong fire to see Harry struggling with his next words. "With the issues between you and Sam, well, Leah you haven't been around the wolves. But Christy says she can smell it on both of you. You're going to be tribal protectors, and soon."

"What?" Seth stammered, but Leah couldn't seem to speak at all. Christy caught Harry's eye and pointed to the door. She'd give them privacy for a while. He nodded his thanks and Christy made her way outside to deal with breaking up that tree she destroyed.

At a human pace, she ripped branches off the tree and moved them into a pile. She squeezed off parts of the tree, breaking it down into firewood she wouldn't need unless someone else visited her. It was a while before she heard the front door open.

Leah had her arms crossed in front of her as if she were cold, and her eyes were red. Seth seemed more energetic and bouncy than before. Harry looked like the world was on his shoulders, but he smiled at Christy as the three made it down the stairs and over to her. "Thank you." Harry held out his hand slowly, clearly nervous about touching her. Christy took it gently and shook hands with the tribal elder.

"If you guys need any more help feel free to contact me." Her eyes swept to Leah. That girl looked deep in thought and a bit lost. "At least you know what is happening. I was a vampire for a few days before I realized what I was."

"What about your maker?" Harry frowned.

"I woke up alone." She admitted. "I'm not sure who did this." She pointed to herself. Maybe her double had met her maker, but Christy had to figure it all out herself.

A look of understanding crossed Harry's face as he looked at her and he gave her a small, honest looking smile. "Our legends are true, but clearly they are incomplete." He held out his hand again and Christy hesitantly took it. "I'm glad I got to meet you. A vampire so in touch with her humanity she can empathize with our wolves." He pulled his second hand into the odd handshake and held her tightly. "I did for my kids what you wished you had done for you, thank you for making me see that it needed to be done."

Christy didn't really have a response to that. It was so formal and yet so heartfelt she thought she might have gotten tears in her eyes if those tear ducts still worked. She just nodded and the Clearwaters moved to their SUV. Leah stared back at her before slipping into the driver's seat. When the men were looking away Christy mouthed some words, 'come over if you need to.' To Leah. Leah nodded and then turned her head to back the vehicle up.

Christy knew that this friendship would come with big complications, and it was possible the pack would demand it end, but for now she'd be there for Leah if the girl needed her.

…..

"I can't believe them." Bella's voice was a human growl as she stared at the computer in front of her. Christy lowered the Harry Potter book she was borrowing to look over at the human. "All that talk about not wanting to be monsters and they never bothered to do this."

"What are you talking about?" Christy finally resorted to asking.

"Grizzly Bears are on the list of things you can't hunt." Bella stamped those words out like she was hitting a wall with a hammer, hard and firm. The girl turned away from the computer and stared at Christy. "I can't count the number of times Emmett came back talking about bears."

Christy gave Bella a slight frown. It was still not common to hear Bella say any of their names, so this was progress, but Bella was pissed. "And deer, and wolves, there are so many animals that are endangered." Christy sat up on the bed. "What will there to be to eat in a hundred years if no one is doing anything about this now?"

"Well, if you are determined to stick to animals, you'd need to be a conservationist and you'd need to take an active role in stopping humans from destroying the wilderness."

Bella's brown eyes moved quickly, catching Christy's red. "Like you're doing." Bella muttered, surprised sounding.

"My way is rather slow." Christy admitted with a weak smile. "You'd need to do more."

"You told me that this was happening." Bella grimaced. "And the Cullens should have been doing what you have me doing. You aren't even a 'vegetarian' and you are doing your one hunt the right way." Bella moved her eyes back to Christy's. "You're only hunting an animal so I can see you hunt, but you don't believe in this." Christy watched Bella pale. "You don't even want to do this."

Christy swallowed and sighed. "Not really." She admitted. "I have a problem with killing anything innocent if there is an alternative, but I'm not so optimistic as to think my preferred diet will always be available when I need it."

"And neither would mine." Bella whispered, the horror clear in her eyes. Christy got up off the bed and moved slowly to Bella, before wrapping her arms around Bella's shoulder in a hug from behind.

"I wish I could tell you that you're wrong, but it could happen. I'd hate for you to not consider every possibility you can foresee. We'll hunt tomorrow in the forest, but if you ever want me to change you we might have to have you hunt with me in the city as well." Christy whispered. She could feel Bella's body tensed. "Don't worry, I won't ask you to do that anytime soon. No, that's a lesson you'll have to ask for. It's one we really should do before you give me a final yes."

"I don't know if I can watch someone die." Bella's voice broke, and Christy's unbeating heart ached to hear that.

"I know, but if I made you a vampire without having you see that, I won't be doing you any favors." Christy pulled her arms away from Bella and sighed. "Well, this is more to think about. We'll have to figure something out. As is, you say bears are off limits. I can avoid that. Anything else?"

It was tense, but Bella listed a few animals they were going to avoid if they found them tomorrow.

It was odd to stay the night, but it was a 'sleep over' and Christy sat in the chair in Bella's bedroom reading when the girl finally went to bed. Christy kept an ear out for Charlie and twice she slipped into the sleeping bag on the floor to pretend to sleep, but otherwise she sat near the window with the moon shining down on the book she was reading.

Christy heard Charlie leave, and she put the book down at that time. She'd been cooped up for a little too long, it made going downstairs to make breakfast for Bella sound like a good idea. Shaking her head at that thought, Christy made her way downstairs to get the human something to eat, because Bella was going to wake up soon. They had plans to leave the house by ten, and have a picnic out in the woods for Bella's lunch, because they'd probably take a while to find something edible out there for Christy, especially since they had to go slower because of Bella.

Bella was a little quiet when she woke up, and breakfast was no exception, but they were out the door with a little time to spare. "You're sure this is going to be okay?" Bella asked as they got into her truck and Christy must have made a face because Bella spoke faster. "I just don't want to make things hard on you. I know you won't, well, bite me, but,"

Christy slid over toward the driver's side and gave Bella's arm a gentle squeeze. "Relax. I'm fine, you'll be fine, the only one not going to be fine is whatever we decide is my dinner." She gave Bella a reassuring smile. "I've got this, I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

It was a dry, but overcast day and Christy glanced at the sky through the canopy of trees with some approval. "I could carry you, but this could be a good workout for your little heart." She turned to the human girl looking at the path into the woods with a smile on her face.

"I'm good." Bella spoke quietly and Christy wondered at the haunted look on her face, but she just gave an encouraging smile and started to lead the way into the woods.

"I don't know how far we'll need to go." Christy offered and glanced back at Bella. "If you decide you need a break, or if you want me to carry you, just say something."

They walked in silence for a little while, but Christy could still smell the truck nearby, even if it wasn't visible to human eyes anymore when Bella spoke up. "I feel bad, I'm going to slow you down. I'll probably even scare the animals away, I'm making this harder."

Christy couldn't help but smile at Bella's concerns, and she stopped and turned to look at the girl following her. "I wouldn't even be doing this if I didn't think you needed to see how it's done, so leaving you behind doesn't work." Her smile grew as she watched Bella start to blush. "I don't have any better things to do today, so stop worrying about wasting my time. It's okay, I know you can't keep up as a human and I don't care if we go slow."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Bella stammered out, clearly embarrassed and Christy just shook her head at Bella's insecurity and sighed. There really wasn't anything she could say right now about it, so Christy just let it go.

They walked in silence maybe for five minutes, the birds were oddly silenced as Christy came closer. Christy was considering that the birds had seen a vampire hunting before and were perhaps trying to lay low. Did any Cullens eat birds? She couldn't stop a grimace from crossing her lips at the thought of that. Her imagination must be getting away from her.

"You were an Xmen?" Bella spoke finally, proving her thoughts had been running away from her as well.

"Not exactly." Christy answered, glancing back at Bella. "Look, you can ask if you want to. I won't get angry." Bella's wide eyes made her think Bella had been surprised at her own question. "I was a spy, I did the undercover work along with Mystique." Bella's eyes moved to stare into Christy's own and her jaw dropped a little. Christy gave the girl a small hint of a smile, knowing that Bella had to know a little about who Mystique was by now, since she was so surprised. "Watched that movie, didn't you?" Bella's growing blush was answer enough. "That wasn't the same 'world' I was in, if that movie is the same as it was in my homeworld. She joked about being naked, but she looked like she wore clothes."

"Oh," Bella blinked and swallowed a little harder than normal. "But was she with that Magneto guy?"

Christy couldn't help but chuckle at that question. "No, Mystique didn't really date men. She'd pretend to date a guy for a mission if she needed to, but she's a lesbian through and through."

"So that movie isn't really accurate?"

"That movie is even different than the comics. The world I ended up in was closer to the comics I'd read than that movie." Christy leaned back against a tree and sighed. "But if your question was if I was a 'bad guy', that's a little bit of a gray area." Christy watched Bella and wished this conversation wasn't happening in the middle of the woods, it might make Bella feel a bit more nervous. "The Xmen were the Professor's public heroes, and they fought good battles, but they had to fight like heroes. Sometimes you can't be honorable and win, and sometimes the cost of losing because of that is just too high. That was where Mystique and I came in. We were the people the Professor called in when things were that bad. When the slave traders were the government, when the government was debating about sterilization, or genocide, we were the ones that went in and tipped the scales in our favor. We worked on every continent." Christy's voice softened. "We were the assassins, the interrogators, and the extortionists. We did the bad guy work for the good guys." It was too simple of an explanation for what they did, but for someone not too familiar with the Xmen world, it was all she could really give.

"Did you have a codename?" Bella finally spoke after studying Christy for a moment.

"Demise." Christy offered flatly. "I went by Demise."

"Odd name." Bella gave her a weak smile, which Christy returned.

"You should have heard the other choices I had." She smiled, trying to seem teasing and playful, but the topic was a bit of a tender one for her still. It might always be.

"Was it strange, living in a world where people could do things like fly, or shapeshift like that?"

"Actually, it was." Christy nodded, as she considered that. "Took a little while to get used to it, but then you'd know about that too." She nodded toward the human who'd learned about vampires a year ago.

"Yeah, I guess so." Bella spoke quietly, and she shifted to stop leaning against the boulder she'd parked against. Christy stood up as well, and they made their way further into the forest. Christy could practically feel Bella's mind churning and thinking and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

They talked about movies, and books, as they made their way deeper into the forest. Christy kept herself ready and twice had to prevent Bella from falling down a hill, but they were challenging paths and it wasn't a surprise the human had trouble with them.

"I hear a larger heartbeat." Christy spoke quietly as the slower thud thud of a heart told her they were approaching some larger animal. Bella stopped talking about the Harry Potter book Christy was reading and glanced over at where Christy was pointing.

"How do we do this?" Bella asked just as quietly, but Christy could see the human's skin was paling. She did kind of regret she was putting the blood squeamish girl through this. If it wasn't important, she wouldn't. The smell coming from that direction was not too appetizing either, so this wasn't something either of them was looking forward to.

"We're downwind now, and we need to stay that." Christy offered as she moved closer to Bella so she could talk even more quietly. "I could carry you closer, find a safe spot and set you down before going for it, but I'll have to move fast."

"Great, as if the blood won't make me queasy enough." Bella muttered very quietly and sighed heavily. Christy frowned at that.

"I'm sorry." Christy spoke softly and her hand petted Bella's arm.

"No, I understand. I have to do this." Bella managed a weak polite smile. "My issues with blood really aren't going to work if I become a vampire. I have to face this." Her skin was approaching the most pale Christy had seen it. "But if I pass out,"

"You won't, because then I'll have to eat another one of these." Christy gave a teasing smile to the girl.

"What is it?" Bella finally asked, as Christy gently picked her up bridal style.

"I think we've found a deer." Christy offered, considering the scents she'd smelled in the forest as she ran towards cities to hunt.

"I hear they aren't as tasty." Bella sounded apologetic.

"It's fine." Christy managed to not grimace. She picked Bella up carefully and took a moment to adjust her hold to make this as comfortable as possible. Bella didn't weigh anything, and Christy wasn't going to need to worry about getting tired. No, she had to focus on not jostling the human, not moving too fast for the human's body. It wasn't new concerns, even before she became a vampire she had to learn how to be gentle enough for humans at times and Christy took that very seriously now.

They made it to a hill overlooking the small clearing and Christy set Bella down quickly, while keeping her eye on the prey. "Is it on the no list?" She whispered into Bella's ear.

Bella tried to speak just as quietly, but still the deer's ear twitched. "No, it isn't on the endangered list. You can have that."

Christy nodded and focused on the deer with intense eyes. She could hear the heartbeat of the creature, and the nearer heartbeat of the girl. She could hear the wind in the leaves, and the sounds of water in the distance. "Here goes." She muttered and moved to run at the deer at a speed that should be visible to the human watching. There was no point racing after this at full speed, because the idea was for Bella to see this. Christy just needed to move faster than the deer, which was actually rather easy for her now.

The deer's eyes widened in clear shock and his body jerked back, before his head started to turn around so he could run. Christy stayed focused on the beat of his heart, the pulsing of his blood. He started to run, but Christy overtook him quickly and grabbed his head to stop him. She reared back and then moved forward, focusing on the pulse she could hear. It wasn't the same as human and she didn't want to miss the vein, but still when she bit down, he jerked and she felt the warm spray of blood on her face, before she adjusted and closed her mouth over the opened neck.

It was a little nasty tasting, and the smell of fur so close to her nose was not pleasant either. Christy focused on swallowing, and could see why some vampires wouldn't choose this. Still, it was not the grossest thing she'd ever eaten and she just focused on swallowing until the deer stopped moving.

The other heartbeat nearby was pounding much faster and Christy jerked the deer body away from her mouth, still holding it up by its head as she stared over at the small hill to see Bella watching her. Bella took one step back, and her heart managed a new racing speed.

Bella smelled infinitely better than the deer in Christy's arms, and her racing heart made that scent pour out of her. Christy lowered the deer to the ground and took a deep breath as she took in the paleness of Bella's face. "Are you okay?" She managed to ask, even as she had to use the sleeve of her shirt to wipe some blood from her face.

Bella's wide eyes moved to Christy's and Christy felt the intensity of that stare. Her own eyes were probably pitch black at this moment, so she did her best to relax her body, to appear unthreatening. "That was, that was so fast." Bella muttered

It actually was rather slow, but Christy just nodded. She could see Bella staring at her face and Christy self-consciously wiped at her face again, feeling and smelling the blood on her.

"I tried to keep in clean, but animals fight harder, I didn't mean to make a mess." Christy watched Bella reach out with one arm to lean on the tree near her and could hear the frantic swallowing. That human was fighting throwing up.

The sound made it clear she was having to fight hard. Christy sighed. "I'll go toss Bambi where he can't be found. You'll be okay here for a moment?" She'd make a quick pass by the creek or river she could hear and clean up. Bella was a bit too squeamish.

"Yeah." Bella managed to whisper, and Christy just sighed and shook her head. At least Bella didn't fear her for too long, but Christy really hoped the girl managed to keep her breakfast down. She didn't want to carry the girl until Bella's stomach was more stable. The stink of the deer was enough for Christy, she didn't need Bella's vomit to add to it.

With the dead deer in her arms, Christy ran at her full speed towards the water. The trees were easily dodges as she looked for a good place to ditch the body. The smell of a predator, normal wolves, centered around a small cave and Christy grinned as she dropped their dinner on their doorstep, before running further and faster for the water.

The creek was quickly abandoned by the wolves that should head home and find a free meal and Christy ignored them to kneel on the side of the running water. Her reflection was distorted, but she could see the red on her face, and the splatters on her shirt. "Damn." She muttered and quickly dipped down to wet her head, the entire head, in case there was blood in her hair. She scrubbed quickly, not wanting to leave Bella alone for long.

Her shirt was tugged over her head, even though it was a button down shirt and she dipped it in the water as well, scrubbing more gently so she wouldn't tear her clothes. She worked the blood out from under her nails and wondered when she clawed at that deer, because she didn't remember doing that.

When she stood up and started to wring her shirt out, Christy caught the shift in the wind and her eyes blackened. "Shit!" She took another deep breath to confirm her fears and then turned, shirt in hand, and raced back to where she'd come from. It was too soon, she thought, but apparently it wasn't.

"They left you here, alone, unprotected." The French accent was easy to pick up and Christy's eyes narrowed as she heard the vampire she'd smelled while cleaning up.

Christy burst through the treeline and was in front of Bella in an instant. Laurent was shoved back and flew through the air into a tree as Christy narrowed her eyes and ran at him. He'd been about to bite Bella and there were no wolves to stop him. Her being here kept the wolves off Cullen land and it almost cost Bella her life. Christy growled as she ripped an arm off the French Vampire that should have wolves ripping him to pieces.

When he tried to run Christy grabbed his other arm and flipped him into the air, and slammed him into the ground. Mystique's training paid off as she flipped her own body out of the way of his kick and wrapped her arms around his neck. She used all her strength to rip it from his head.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she kicked the body into the tree again and held the head in her fist, by his hair.

"Yes." Bella's voice was shaky. "You killed him."

"Not yet." Christy snarled as she took in the way the arm she'd tossed to the side was still squirming. Was it better to let him live or not? Now that the immediate danger was over, she started to remember what his death did to the Denali's, and the fact that Irina could be a threat if she finished this, but he could be a threat if she didn't was a bad situation to be in.

"It was so fast." Bella sounded stunned, and Christy was concerned. She studied the girl before her. "You won so fast."

"I'm trained, he's not." Christy could tell that right away by the way he tried to fight. It was nice to know her edge was still there, even with vampires. Apparently it was almost time she'd need to use that training of hers.

His phone gave her a pause as she was making her way back to Bella at a human pace, so as not to startle her too much right after the girl was almost attacked. The phone continued to ring and Christy glanced at the body and the pocket the sound was coming from. It was odd that it would ring now and, it might be worth seeing who was calling. She ran back to the tree she'd left most of Laurent underneath and reached into the pocket with an apology to Bella. The name on the screen said Irina, "I think I should take this." Christy said, while looking at a completely baffled looking Bella. "Hello." She spoke into the phone while putting a few more steps between herself and the head she held and the body.

"Who are you and what are you doing with Laurent's phone?" The female voice was tense and Christy noticed how suspicious it sounded as well. Her lips turned up into a hint of a smile as she realized that at this moment in time Irina didn't trust her 'man'. She must have sensed something was off when he left to help Victoria and as any good spy would, Christy was going to use that to her advantage.

Christy was very aware that Bella was staring at her in disbelief as Christy started to talk with Irina Denali on the phone, while still dangling the head of Laurent in her left hand.

Christy was fully aware of her audience as she tried to focus her attention on this very important phone call, in spite of the fact she knew she'd have to admit to knowing things she shouldn't know right in front of Bella. It couldn't be helped, and she was going to have to say something at some point anyhow, Christy sighed at that thought, before she spoke. "Victoria and Laurent are indisposed at the moment." She made sure to pair those names. There was a hint of a gasp on the other side of the phone and one from Bella's location. "Perhaps I can find her to answer this phone, but when Laurent tried to kill my human I took his head off. He can't talk right now."

"What?" The feminine voice on the phone grew colder and louder.

"I am training a future vampire, and he tried to kill her, apparently on Victoria's orders, while she was learning about hunting animals. My trainee is determined to be a piss drinker, and to get those piss yellow eyes, and I'm trying to support that." Christy felt the small smirk cover her lips in spite of herself as she rattled up the animal drinking vampire on the other end and she winked at the human watching her. Bella looked confused as hell. "Any decent human drinker hunts in the cities, so I didn't expect to find Laurent about to bite my human when I found them. I did what anyone would do, I ripped him apart. Now I just need to find his redheaded mate and I'll kill that bitch too."

The growl on the other end of the phone was a bit threatening but Christy just paused to let the female form words. While she waited she studied the pale human in front of her. "Are you okay little one? He didn't manage to hurt you did he?" She talked to Bella while Irina was still too out of it to talk.

Bella stared at her in silence for a moment, until she noticed Christy wiggling the phone. "No, ah, you got him just in time. He was telling me how Victoria was going to torture me, and claimed this was better, that he'd kill me quickly."

Christy felt her eyes go black, remembering the book and what all he might have told Bella. "That bitch won't get near you. You saw how I can take care of things, you allied yourself with the right vampire and I won't let you down. You'll be a powerful member of my coven once you aren't a child anymore and I can change you."

Knowing the Denali's history with child vampires and how the coven's former leader was killed by the Volturi for disobey the rule about changing children, Christy chose her words carefully. It also made Laurent sound even more evil, that he was going to kill someone that was deemed a 'child' and too young to be changed. Sure, there may be a time when they meet Bella, and Bella didn't look like a child. The Volturi laws would allow her to be turned as well, Christy was sure, but with the girl still in high school, Bella was younger than Christy would consider turning.

There was a hiss on the other end of the phone and Christy nodded to Bella, hoping that reassured her, but then she noticed the eyes looking at the head in her hand. Christy shifted her body a bit to obscure Bella's view of Laurent's severed head.

"Where is he?" Irina finally managed to ask.

"I was debating about burning him. This isn't the first time his coven has attacked my human, tried to hunt her, and I don't want him attempting again." Christy's voice was cold and harsh.

"Where are you? Can I come and discuss this with you?" Irina spoke quickly. "I'll come immediately, alone if you need me too."

Christy grimaced at the hint of desperation in Irina's voice. Her eyes traveled to Bella as she considered this, and Irina gave her a moment to think, before speaking up more quietly, more pleadingly. "I thought he was my mate, I just need to see this for myself. I need to talk to him, to hear it from him, that he went back to his old coven."

And that might have been why Irina never believed it in the books. Christy felt apprehensive as hell as she realized that she had to figure out the angle on this and she had to be right. "You have a coven?"

"My coven is relatively large. There are five of us." There was a pause. "We are animal drinkers," Irina admitted and Christy felt some tension calm as she heard the way Irina said that. It was supposed to intrigue Christy, because Irina knew the human in question wanted to be that.

Christy's eyes moved to Bella's, and she stared into the human's eyes. "My human is all the coven I have. I would kill a large coven to protect her. She can tell you how Laurent was no match for me. I am a warrior."

"That's true." Christy watched Bella's eyes water a little and the way the human nibbled her lip. "He never even managed to touch you, as far as I could see."

"It's also true that I can protect you, even from this entire coven of animal drinkers." Christy spoke and watched Bella start to look nervous. "This Irina wants to visit, to see this asshole while he is still alive. I want to kill him and be done with it. What do you think?"

Irina's gasp was tense, and she waited in silence, clearly listening for Bella's answer as Christy was. As Bella froze, shocked to be deciding, Christy spoke into the phone. "What is your coven's name?"

"Denali, we're the Denalis." Irina spoke very obediently and Christy nodded to herself, pleased to see she was acknowledged as the one with the power in this situation. She needed to keep the Denali's thinking that way.

"This is the Denali coven." Christy managed to share with Bella, as if she didn't know it before. "They claim to have five. I would not allow just one to come to us, not when she thought they were mates, that's too dangerous. I would ask her coven leader to come as well. There will be from two to five vampires coming if we turn this into a political matter. I cannot hide where we are, the cell phone records will show this. They may come whether I've burned him or not."

"Tell her we're animal drinkers, please." Irina spoke up. "We will not attack her." And now she had Irina pleading with Bella, which helped.

"She says that they are animal drinkers. We'll force them to show up in a few hours, then if they aren't truly animal drinkers their eyes will show it." She was not going to sit on Laurent's body for too long, he needed to be taken care of before Bella went to sleep, or the poor girl might not be able to sleep.

"Denali." Bella's head tilted and she looked a bit stunned. That was how Christy knew the girl had heard the name before. "Just them, no one else?"

"I promise, I promise." Irina called out louder, as if the human would hear it from this far away. Christy just nodded at Bella.

"Who is your coven leader." Christy asked.

"Tanya Denali." The answer was given quickly, vampire quickly.

"I want her to call this phone in an hour and I will give her an address for your visit." There was a sound of protest, quieted as quickly as it came, from Irina. "We are still in the woods, and I need to see if my human is truly okay. I need to haul that bastard back to my home now, and I need to do that without traumatizing the girl. I think I am going out of my way enough. I need an hour. You will give it to me."

"Yes, yes of course." Irina swallowed hard. "I need to look for Tanya, she went out hunting. If we're late calling?"

"I'm not a kidnapper, I just need some time to deal with problems in my own coven. If you're a little late, I won't be hasty. If you haven't called by nightfall though, well, I don't think that's too much to ask." Christy did her best to sound understanding, and a bit more 'human' herself at that moment. She wanted Irina to see Laurent as the bad guy in all of this after all.

"When is nightfall? I don't even know where you are." Irina still sounded pretty tense, Christy pitied her actually. She reassured her that it would be 8 hours, when it would actually be 9. The time of nightfall could have hinted as to where they were and Christy did not want to be surprised by the visit.

Once that timeline was agreed on, Christy set the head in her hands down just behind a boulder and walked up to Bella at a human speed. "Things are moving so fast." She spoke softly as she moved closer to a pale Bella. "The Denalis aren't a threat, and if we play this right they could help us with Victoria."

Bella moved forward and Christy wrapped her arms around the poor girl as Bella struggled to calm her own heartbeat. Christy whispered into Bella's hair. "You are not alone and you are not unprotected. That asshole isn't the only one that will learn that."

Tears, large tears, made its way down Bella's cheeks. "They left me alone in this." Her words were pained and cracked, and Christy sighed, even as she held Bella tighter. "They left me unprotected. They left me for Victoria to hunt down."

"They didn't know." Christy managed, while hugging Bella close and gently petting her hair with one hand as Bella's body shook with sobs. Laurent's words about the Cullen's not caring about her had clearly hit the mark. Christy held Bella for a long time while she cried. At least she could cry now. "I'm here," Christy murmured regularly, in reassurance.

"Victoria is dangerous." Bella managed after her sobs calmed down.

"And I'm more dangerous still." Christy pulled back and gave Bella a wicked grin. "Victoria is good at running away, amazingly good at it. That makes me think she hasn't learned how to stand and fight very well."

"How do you know?" Bella's words were slower, more suspicious and Christy took a step back while sighing heavily. "You said you read about this world."

"I did." Christy stared into Bella's eyes and nibbled on her own lip as she debated about this.

"You know so much about Laurent and Victoria. I think you knew who it was who called you too."

"I did." Christy admitted softly. "Bella, you were so fragile when I found you. I know I never want to lie to you, but how could I tell you that there was more than one book? I read your books Bella, more than one of them." Christy watched Bella's expression carefully, but it was hard to read. "I was waiting until you were better, more stable, to tell you, but Laurent came and I couldn't really wait any longer."

"You knew he'd come? You knew about Victoria?" Bella's eyes widened.

"My being here changes some things, but others, well, I have an idea of what might happen." Christy really worried that Bella would be mad at her, so when Bella frowned she braced herself for some anger.

"I thought you might have read something about me. You know things I didn't tell you sometimes." Bella spoke quietly, and so slowly, as if piecing words together she hadn't really wanted to say.

Christy waited for Bella to say more, but the girl was staring at the rocks she was standing on in silence. Christy finally spoke quietly, to pull Bella out of her frozen pose. "Twilight." She spoke softly. "The series was called Twilight."

"Series?" That make Bella look back up at her, and her voice rose.

"Four books." Bella looked stunned and disbelieving as Christy told her that. "There is a lot more to this planet's supernatural world than you've learned so far. I've landed in the middle of your story, and I've pulled it off track. I don't know if that's a good thing or not at this point, but I won't abandon you in this. Victoria will not get you, I promise."

Bella voice grew more tense. "Victoria is dangerous." It looked like the fact Bella was fictional somewhere took a backseat to warning Christy yet again and Christy couldn't help but find that endearing. Her eyes softened as she looked at the scared human girl before her.

Christy did her best to appear reassuring, because clearly her first attempt wasn't enough. "She can be, but for all her bluster, she isn't a warrior or a leader. I am. I have fought much worse odds and won, and I have some idea of what she's planning while she doesn't know anything about me.

"Maybe you should change me. I don't want you fighting her alone." Bella's words were typical for the girl, and honestly, in the book she'd said pretty much the same at one point.

Christy spoke with a hint of a smile on her lips, touched at Bella's concern, "I also know where I can find some allies, even if things with the Denalis don't go well." Would the Denali's help? She still planned to killed Laurent, she had to do something to keep him from becoming a threat. If she couldn't get the Denalis to help, could she get a phone number for a Cullen from them? Did she really want the Cullens to come back anymore? Bella needed time to grow into herself, and the Cullens made that hard for her. Christy wanted Bella to have the time she needed.

"I'm not going to change our deal Bella. You need to finish your preparation, you need to make up your mind and I don't want Victoria making it up for you. She doesn't deserve to steal your choices from you."

Christy pulled Bella into her arms, and hugged her gently. "I'll protect you, and I won't get hurt doing it." It seemed odd to say it that way, but she knew how Bella thought and it would be her main fear that someone she cared about got hurt saving her. Bella's arms wrapped around her and the human must have been holding her as tightly as she could. "I won't be alone. Bella, there are things you were supposed to learn about the world this Winter, but my being here kind of messed it up." She tilted Bella's head up, and it was an intimate pose they were in. It almost felt like she should kiss the girl, but Christy shook that thought off and stared into brown eyes. "I am not the only supernatural person in the area that would want to hunt Victoria down, and if we play this right the Denalis will consider joining us as well."

"That's what you were doing on the phone? Animal piss?" Bella shook her head. "Insulting them?"

"It would explain the yellow eyes wouldn't it?" Christy gave Bella a teasing smirk. "And I don't think you're a child, but I want to paint Laurent in the worst possible light. I may play up your young age a lot until this is over." Speaking of Laurent, Christy glanced over at the rock she'd left some of him behind, and at the rest of him under the tree. "I'd like to get us out of here before they call back."

Christy found an abandoned broken tent near the water she'd been cleaning up near, and she used that to wrap the now five pieces of Laurent up. She did it in a way the pieces weren't going to connect too easily and she kept the head far from his shoulders. It took a focused full hour to get back to the truck.

"I hate to put you through this, but for tonight, can you see if you can stay with me? I'll start a fire to keep the place warm." Christy spoke as she tossed all but the head into the back of Bella's truck. "I know this will be a tense night, and I'm telling them you WILL be turned so I don't look like I'm breaking any laws, but this is gonna be a cluster fuck and I could use the help." She didn't add that her new night ritual would be sneaking into Bella's room for a while, to make sure Victoria didn't think of visiting. Bella flinched in shock just a bit and Christy wasn't sure if it was her language or her question that caused that.

"They might have heard of me. HE might have told them." Bella spoke slowly, while looking at the head in Christy's hand again. "And he," Bella pointed to Laurent's head, "knows who I am."

"When they call I could make never telling any vampire about you a part of the agreement." Christy offered, knowing that it was the Cullens Bella wanted to avoid at the moment. "It won't seem odd right away to them, they'll agree before they realize why they shouldn't."  
"You actually need me, don't you?" Bella sounded shocked and Christy nodded. She did need Bella's help and Bella's backstory to make this all work. Bella appeared to need a moment to absorb that fact before she nodded. "I'll need to go home and get some things."

"I don't have warm water for a shower, so if you want one, you could take a quick one before we head out." Christy smiled, feeling her chances of pulling this off growing as Bella started to realize she was a player and not a pawn in this.

Christy drove, because Bella was still a little rattled, and Bella also needed to call Charlie for permission. They were almost halfway to the house before Bella took another calming breath and borrowed Christy's 'new phone' to call the police station. They might have waited to use her home phone, but they really wanted in and out of that house quickly. The body parts were squirming a little in the back of the truck, not that Christy was telling Bella that just yet, but she might end up having to rip the body apart again if they took too long.

Once they got to the house they split up. Bella rushed a bit too much and stumbled up the stairs as she made her way to the bathroom for that shower. Christy rummaged through the kitchen for some food that would be okay with no electricity and also found a paper bag to put Laurent's head in while she waited for Bella to shower. It was one way to not have to look at him, and if Charlie came home early it was better not to be waving a severed head about.

She could here Bella stumble just a little bit in her hurry to clean up the sweat and mud she'd managed to get on herself. Christy wandered into Bella's room to pack her an overnight bag.

Bella was still in the shower then the phone rang. Christy moved to where she could see the truck from a window, and then answered it. It said Tanya on the screen, so Christy knew it was time for another conversation.

"Hello." She spoke calmly.

"I'm Tanya Denali." The feminine voice was firm and in control and Christy smiled just a little to herself at how, based on the books, she wouldn't have expected that too much. Still, Tanya was a coven leader, she had to have some take charge in her to do that.

It dawned on her that she hadn't given a name yet, poor form, she considered her own mistake. "I'm Christy Taylor." She finally introduced herself. "I guess I have something of yours." She paused. "I'm not sure it's safe to give him back. Did Irina tell you what he'd been up to?"

"I heard." The voice was cold, but Christy got the impression she wasn't the target of that particular anger. "We have not yet decided if we want him back. We want to talk with him to determine that."

"Okay, how many are you bringing?" Christy asked as she could hear the water being shut off upstairs.

"It could be just the two of us if you'd be more comfortable." Tanya spoke a little more softly. "I heard that you are the only vampire in your coven?" That sounded like a lot of interest and Christy could bet that Tanya wanted to ask questions beyond that one.

"About that," Christy could hear Bella stepping out of the tub and knew it would be a few more minutes before she came down. "I really don't want any vampires outside of your coven to know about her. I'd say no one other than the two of you, but I bet I'm too late for that request." She made herself sound more unsure on purpose. "I'm not breaking the law, but I want to give her time to grow up a bit more. She doesn't want to be a nomad and so she needs to be an age that won't annoy her too quickly. Too young and she has fewer options on how to live her life."

"I understand." Tanya's voice softened a little. "We won't get in the way of that, as long as you say you will turn her eventually, you aren't breaking any laws that could come back to haunt us." Christy knew that Tanya probably meant that since they were told it was legal, if Aro investigated, the Denali's would be in the clear, even if Christy was lying. Aro would be able to 'read' that the Denalis believed the human was going to be turned, so if she wasn't it was Christy to blame.

"Thank you." Christy smiled a little at how that worked out just as well as she thought it would. "You could bring any Denali you want, it isn't you I think I need to worry about, it's Laurent's 'other' coven."

There was a pause, and Christy could hear the shuffling of feet over the phone, and the movement of hair. She visualized that Tanya was nodded to the others sitting around her, and she'd bet money that she was right on that. "Okay, there will be five of us. We're ready to head out now. Where are we going?"

"I'm squatting at a house in Forks, Washington." Christy told them and the gasp of at least two people told her she'd been right to think Tanya was surrounded.

"Forks?" Tanya repeated, but Christy was sure Tanya knew the answer to that question.

"Yes, I can get you the address for the house, but don't panic when you see fire in the fireplace. I need to keep my human warm somehow. I'm not going to burn him before you get here." She heard the murmuring of fast words spoken as quietly as possible, but still a few words leaked through to her, like the word 'Carlisle'. "I found a house that smelled like it had a coven in it before, so I took it over." She smirked as the murmuring died at her words.

"I think I know where that house is." Tanya spoke slowly. "We can be there in around two hours."

"Sounds good to me. See you then." Christy couldn't help but smirk as she hung up the phone.

"Good news?" Bella's voice came down from the top of the stairs and Christy looked up at her.

"We have two hours. You might want to pack a book."

"Oh no, I think I have more than enough questions to fill two hours." Bella spoke a bit more steadily than she had been, so Christy could tell the shower, the time out, helped Bella regroup mentally.

"Fair enough." Christy moved to grab the bag she'd packed for Bella and the bag with Laurent's head. "Let's get out of here."


	6. Chapter 6

Bella was driving down the deeply wooded streets towards the Cullen's house, and Christy's current home, for the first time since her birthday, Christy was pretty sure. The pain in Bella's eyes made Christy regret needing her now, or not having her visit earlier so this wasn't all happening on the same day. "I don't know if this helps, but they do all love you. I know this, I've read it. They didn't think it through when they left, because if they knew all of this was going to happen they wouldn't have left you alone to face it. I promise you." Bella's jaw clenched and Christy could see her eyes become more glassy. "When we really have time, if you want, I'll talk to you about them. I will warn you though," Christy gave Bella a weak smile as Bella stopped the truck and turned it off. "I'm biased as hell, and I'm actually pretty pissed at the Cullens right now, especially HIM."

"Well, right now, so am I." Bella muttered and then swung her driver's side door open. Christy got out of the car herself and pretended not to notice Bella glancing around the area. She was glad she'd been maintaining the yard though, so it wouldn't look deserted.

"I have firewood. We need to get that started pretty quickly if we want to keep you warm." Christy moved to pick up the bags they'd brought, including Laurent's head and flashed inside as fast as she could to put them all in the Kitchen. Sure, some of it belonged in the living room, where Bella would have to sleep, but with guest on the way it was all going in the pantry, including that bastard's head. Christy did put him on a different shelf though.

She was back outside and ready to get the tent covered body before Bella stopped staring at the house. "Where, where do you stay?" Bella's voice was quiet, thoughtful, and a bit tentative.

Christy looked up from the body she was trying to pick up to stare at Bella and sighed. "Alice's room gets lot of natural light, and without electricity it was the clear choice. Rosalie's room was pretty good too, but I didn't think she'd forgive me as easily if she found out about it."

The laugh was harsh, hurt and bitter, "They left, they'll never know."

Christy paused as she considered what she knew and how little time she had to share it before they had guests. She couldn't really get into the emotional drama of the Cullens right at this moment. "The Denalis are much older than the vampires you've met before." Christy spoke as she picked up Laurent. "Can you grab some of the firewood for me?" She shrugged her own green covered load and then nodded towards the stack of wood she kept just in case humans visited.

"Oh, sure." Bella looked a little surprised to be asked to do physical labor at this house, but Christy wasn't going to start babying Bella now. It wouldn't help her.

The door was still opened, so Christy just bumped it more opened to make her way inside. She had to keep an eye on Laurent in one way or another, so she took the tent covered body to the corner of the living room and set him down out of plain sight for Bella. Without a head he shouldn't move too far, hopefully. She didn't really know how that worked, just that there was a legend about it happening, that the bodies could pull themselves back together. That was why the head wasn't kept nearby.

As Christy ripped apart any progress Laurent had made, she tried to talk in a cheerful tone to distract Bella from it. "So, how are you with building fires? Think you can do that for me? I'm a little paranoid about getting close to fire and I have a bit of his venom on my clothes, I heard it's like lighter fluid."

"Sure, I can do it." Bella stammered out as Christy tore Laurent's left leg off of his torso again. She tugged his right arm off too, but it wasn't as well attached. "Where do you keep the matches?"

"It's behind my radio, on the mantel." Christy offered as she picked up and rearranged the severed limbs so that they sat in a stack to the side of the torso. She grimaced at the thought of Irina seeing him like this, but she wasn't taking any risks. Hopefully that female would be understanding of that.

Christy stood up and glanced down at the venom that has splashed onto her yet again from Laurent's gaping wounds. If she were dealing with humans she'd change before meeting them covered in blood, but this was Laurent's 'blood' and from what she did remember about vampires, and her own guesses, she was going to wear the clothes that were coated in it to meet the others. She wanted to appear dangerous, and she had no scars like Jasper had, so this would have to do.

They were all good reasons, but also she wouldn't have to leave Bella unattended with the not quite dead body of the vampire that tried to kill her. That was reason enough to tough out the increased flammability. "You're tending your own fire today." Christy told Bella as she made her way to the couch in front of the fire Bella was working on. "But I'll get more wood for you before this runs out."

"You're a little more bossy today than normal." Bella muttered and Christy smiled just a little at the whispered comment. It was likely true. Bella looked up at her after some small flames started in the fireplace, and it was curious eyes that stared at Christy.

"I'm playing a coven leader today, in a tense situation. I'm gonna be bossy." She shrugged her shoulders. "Sounds to me like Tanya's pulling the bossy out for this too, so I have to at least match her." She gave Bella a searching look. "I might be a little more bossy with you, if I have to, but only if I have to. Still, I won't put my foot down like your opinion doesn't matter."

"You let me choose to wait and see them about him." Bella glanced at the couch covering the body.

"I'm a leader, not a dictator." Christy muttered and glanced out the window briefly, to see a crow flying off. "I'll only dictate if it is because I know something everyone else doesn't. One thing I do demand is that Laurent doesn't leave here alive. I'll be gentle about it, and hope they make that same conclusion, but we can't have him warning Victoria about me too much. I like to be underestimated sometimes."

Bella took a deep breath and Christy debated about what they should talk about. "Have you heard much about the Denali's?" It was a topic that would do them more good to cover now.

"Just some." Bella was glancing around the room and her jaw was a bit tense. There was no helping where this confrontation was happening.

"Okay, here are some things that might be important to know. There are five of them. I'll admit I don't remember all of their names, but Irina thinks, or thought, that she was Laurent's mate. In the books I read he was killed immediately when he attacked you by the allies I told you I could get to help us with Victoria. That caused problems, because she refused to believe that he was attacking you, she wanted to believe he was innocent and therefore was murdered by these allies."

"Oh God." Bella seemed to pale. Christy moved sit on the couch that Bella slumped down on and held her hand.

"When Victoria made her big move the Denali's refused to help, because Irina wanted permission to kill the allies in exchange and that wasn't given." Bella stared down at their hands. "Carlisle wouldn't give it." Christy admitted quietly.

"Carlisle?" Bella looked up with glassy eyes.

"They came back when they realized you were in trouble Bella, there is a lot to that story, but it isn't a good idea to get too emotional before a confrontation. I just promise you that they never had any intention of throwing you to Victoria." Christy spoke softly and then found herself hugging Bella to her body as the girl cried softly.

To distract her a bit and still get important information out, after a few minutes Christy continued. "Irina ends up dying a sad death if she goes down that path. It is sad, and at the last minute she realizes that she's betrayed her family for nothing. I want to see if we can save her. I'm going to be as gentle with her as I can, but he needs to admit that he was hunting you, that he was still working with Victoria, so I might be a monster tonight. I should warn you about that, but I'm doing it for her." Christy was also doing it for Bella, but Bella wasn't quite ready to hear something like that.

Christy took a deep breath, taking in Bella's slight teary scent and continued, but she hugged the girl to her and did feel better and the returning snuggle to get closer. "Irina, Kate, and Tanya have been together for a thousand years as far as I can tell." Bella's body jerked in surprise and she pulled away to stare at Christy with some evident disbelief. Christy grinned a little at that.

Christy told Bella about how the sisters had lost their previous coven leader and mother to the Volturi, and why she was going to keep reminding people that Bella was young. Bella's watery eyes were for the Denali's at that point.

"They have a guy with them, and for the life of me I can't remember his name. It starts with an E and is odd." Christy sighed heavily as Bella shifted to sit as if she were telling a story now and she didn't need to hold the girl. "He has a power to see what powers other people have. I'm not sure what he's going to make of me," Christy looked into Bella's eyes, "But I'm not the only mutant in this room." She gave the girl a small smirk. "You have a power already Bella, and if or when you chose to be a vampire it'll get stronger."

"What," Bella stammered out, her eyes widening.

"One of my powers was to be unreadable by telepaths. It was the first hint we had I wasn't a 'normal' human." Christy enjoyed telling Bella. "Ever hear anything like that before?" She smiled as Bella's jaw dropped. "I had an impenetrable mental shield. It was one of my powers, but for you, it's your main deal."

"I'm gifted?" Bella whispered.

"If it had been you coming to the world I was in, you'd be a mutant Bella. They are more rare here, but you are far from the first person to show her powers before ever being turned."

"Alice." Bella still was whispering, and Christy nodded. "Oh my god."

"Mental attacks don't work on you. That includes some of the powers of the Volturi guards and Kate Denali. If I get a chance I want to see if her powers work on me, if my shield works like yours." Christy just thought of that as she was telling Bella and it seemed a good idea to check on that before a battle.

"I don't know too much about Kate really." Christy frowned. "And that guys wife is a complete mystery to me. All I know is she exists. I don't really like that." She sighed. "He used to work for the Volturi, but left and it was rare that he was allowed to leave. I think I remember him being a bit more 'gentle' and such, like Carlisle, but I'm not going to trust that info." Perhaps later she'd tell Bella about the upcoming or to be avoided issues with the Volturi, but not when things were so tense already. They had to get through today first.

Bella seemed to need silence more than answers for a while and Christy risked leaving her for a quick second to race upstairs and get her a blanket, which might help until the fire started to really do it's job.

"They said two hours." Christy muttered and glanced at the body again. "I think I might want to reattach his head. It's a bit morbid for her to see otherwise."

"Yeah, we should." Bella agreed, but she scooted further from the corner most of Laurent was in.

"How about I put his head on, but take his arms and legs to a different room?" Christy asked as she turned to face Bella, and she watched the girl pale a bit more, "Sorry."

It was decided, though Bella did not look all that healthy when she agreed, but Christy took his limbs and shoved them in the coat closet, since Bella was watching her. She kept them away from Bella's things and then went and grabbed his head. "Once I do this, we can't really talk about books anymore, his ears will start to work at some point. If anything went horribly wrong I don't want him knowing anything."

"We can talk later." Bella looked into her eyes and there was a new hint of inner steel in the girl. Christy smiled just a little to see it.

Christy sat on the ground, where she could see Laurent slowly knitting his head back on, and Bella, who didn't get the same view.

"Was the deer gross?" Bella finally asked and Christy found herself laughing when she heard that.

"Disgusting." She smiled at the girl. "I wouldn't do that for anyone else."

"What a way to show you love me." Bella smiled just a little.

"I do." Christy whispered and watched Bella blush. "I care a lot about you Bella. That's why I'm doing all of this."

"You said I was your entire coven." Bella spoke quietly.

"It's kind of like in Spanish, you only need one guy to have to change a group to masculine, you only need one vampire to turn family into coven." Christy smirked at Bella's slight frown of confusion that faded to a soft smile.

"I see." Bella tugged her hair behind her ear.

"We will have to talk about the Cullens today." Christy sighed as she said it. "We may have to explain how you ended up on Victoria's shit list." Christy glanced at the slow to recover Laurent. "Tanya really likes Carlisle, so I want to highlight the Cullens responsibility in this. I'm sorry that this will be hard, but if we get the Denali's to help with Victoria we'll be way better off. Those allies aren't overly friendly with me."

"Who are these 'allies'." Bella asked after a quiet and tense moment.

"I have a treaty that says I can't tell you myself, but I'm working on a way around that." Christy told her.

"Treaty." Bella muttered and her eyes stared at the wall. "The Quileute's?" Bella proved to be more on her game that Christy thought she was. "You can't bring humans into this."

"I won't." Christy spoke slowly and tilted her head as she stared at Bella. "If you figure it out yourself, I'm off the hook for the treaty, but if not I have someone who owes me a favor just like this." She thought of Harry, Leah or Seth. She could get any one of them to tell Bella the secret before they shifted.

They sat for a while, Christy splitting her attention between the windows, a Harry Potter book, and Laurent and she thought Bella was splitting her attention between pretending to read herself and something else.

"Wolves?" Bella whispered and Christy smirked. Good girl. She nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but Laurent took that moment to moan. Christy turned to stare at him.

"Well, someone's waking up." Christy growled and checked the time. "Ready for guests? He's not waking up fast enough and they should be here soon."

"But Wolves?" Bella stammered and Christy turned to look at her.

"You are right, but only some of them. Not everyone even knows."

Stone on Stone sounded in the woods and Christy whipped her head around. "I think that's supposed to be a warning they are coming. How nice that they don't want to surprise us."

"Yeah, I guess we're up." Bella sighed heavily and her heart started beating faster.

Christy stood on the stairs, with Bella behind her, as the five vampires stepped out of the woods and onto the front yard. They fanned out and stood in a way that there was a point and the others trailed back a bit, like a goose formation, or a battle formation. In the front was a leader, and the one in front had long curly strawberry blonde hair. Christy knew that was Tanya, and it was interesting to see she held herself like a warrior, as she made her way toward them.

Bella's increased heartbeat tore Christy from her staring and she glanced at the girl. "It'll be okay." She reassured her. She'd glanced at the others, and prioritized them as if she were about to fight them off, it was instinctual after this much time, but she wasn't as sure she'd win as easily as her fight with Laurent made her think she could. It was good presentation, and Christy found herself a little impressed with the Denali coven. The book really didn't do them justice.

"I'm Tanya Denali and this is my coven." The blonde stopped a few feet from the stairs and the others stopped with her. One of the blonde women behind Tanya looked more tense than the others, and stared at the door behind Christy, and at Christy's clothes.

"I'm Christy Taylor." Christy reached back to hold Bella's hand and she could feel the girl was a bit tense herself. "This is my coven." She left the girl's name out for now. Knowing that Laurent wasn't ready for company yet, Christy let go of Bella's hand and took a few steps down the stairs. "He is still recovering, and I don't want anyone to be shocked. I did not put him completely back together. I was uncertain how long it would take and I didn't want him trying to run before you got here."

The only male in this coven stepped forward. "Can I look at him?" Tanya barely glanced back at him, her eyes stayed pretty much on Christy. Christy nodded and watched the woman next to him grip his hand for a moment, before letting go. They were nervous as well.

Christy moved to the left of the stairs and let him pass and go inside. Her eyes stayed on the vampires in front of her, but she focused her ears on him, and listened to him push the door open a bit more and head toward the main room. Christy sighed and did what she could to relax her battle ready stance. "I wish we didn't have to spend our day doing this."

Tanya held a hint of a smile for just a moment. "You aren't alone in that."

Bella fidgeted for a moment, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. Christy could tell the girl was doing her best to be quiet, but they both knew what she said wasn't going to be a secret. "Shouldn't we invite them in?"

"I want the male to make Laurent presentable. I don't want to hurt Irina more than necessary. She doesn't deserve this." Christy was forced to say, and it was fine. There was no point in hiding that. She looked over at the tense female. That one was studying her now. Christy didn't miss that many of them were looking at her blood red eyes and giving puzzled looks to the human behind her. She could hear the coat closet being opened at that point and knew that the male inside was taking that seriously and was pulling out the missing pieces. It would have been nice to leave those off Laurent, but she'd go with less trauma in her relationship with the Denali's for now.

He was out a moment later. "He is still out, but he will need blood when he comes to."

Christy turned her head to face him, and she noticed the hint of a growl in her voice. Bella's flinching at the male's words upset her. "He will settle for animal, if anything."

"Of course." Tanya spoke quickly, and the male walked around her carefully to rejoin his coven. "We would never suggest he, well," Tanya was staring at her eyes again.

"I live on rapists, drug dealers and murderers." Bella finally answered the unasked question. "I'm very careful to make sure that is what I'm getting. I don't try and kill a helpless girl in the woods." Her jab was a little angry and she took a deep breath. Her position should be clear now, and perhaps they would get over the silent confusion and condemnation about her diet and move on to the real issue.

"Of course." Tanya turned to one of the blonde females, and since Christy had figured out who Irina was, this had to be Kate. "Would you like to go get Laurent a snack?" Bella flinched at that word and Christy reached back to take her hand. "I want him able to talk."

"Should we tell her no bears?" Bella asked, and Christy smiled just a little.

"I don't think we can tell the animal drinkers to watch out for endangered animals today." Christy decided to try and calm things a little. "I promise if she brings one I'll kill a poacher next time I go hunting to balance it out."

"Christy!" Bella's voice rose to normal and Christy smirked.

"I think I can manage to avoid bear just fine." Kate spoke up, but Christy caught the curious look she got.

"We had been out in the forest so I could show Bella how hunting is done. We looked up what animals were endangered so the experiment didn't cause any damage." Bella stayed quiet, even as the one leaving stopped to stare, as the others did as well.

"You took a human out to hunt with you?" Kate asked, and then glanced at Tanya, as if she'd been told not to talk during this meet up.

"Well I wasn't going to eat that deer for nothing." Christy grimaced. "That was disgusting. No, we're in training and Bella needed to see what hunting was like."

"Messy." Bella muttered under her breath, and a few slight grins grew on the vampires not staring intently at the door to the house. Christy gave a hint of a smile back, but she was pleased that the ploy worked. It wasn't as trigger sensitive now.

"That is pretty amazing that you were able to do that." The male spoke up.

"When I say no vampire will hurt my human, I include myself." Christy dismissed his curiosity and glanced at Bella while nodding toward the door. "Let's go in. I have enough seating in here at least."

Christy turned to face them as they Denali's came into the main room and she could see Irina's body leaning toward the room as if she could barely keep herself from running to see Laurent. It wasn't comforting to see that. She turned her eyes to Tanya, and mouthed a question. "Is she going to be okay?" Tanya just sighed, so that was answer enough. Hopefully the meeting itself will help Irina gain the distance she needs.

"Irina, he isn't conscious yet. Let's sit down and talk about this." Tanya told her sister and they started to move toward the dining room. "Kate won't take long." She told Christy as they started to sit. Apparently they'd been to this house for a meeting before.

Bella had already agreed to deal with questions, if she had to. She was aware of their goals in this meeting, so Christy had warned her that this would hurt. Bella understood that she was the center of attention in this, and she hated it, but she understood it had to be that way. They took the other side of the table, but even as large as that table was, there was only going to be one empty seat when they were all here. They left Bella with that empty seat next to her on one side. Christy was on the other and at the head of the table. She could stare straight across to Tanya at the other head. It felt somewhat familiar; she'd been in staring matches over a table a few times in her life.

"I guess I should introduce my coven." Tanya started and then indicated the people to her right. "This is Eleazer and Carmen." Christy nodded to those two, and was happy to at least have names. Eleazer was staring at her and then at Bella a little oddly, but it wasn't worth worrying about yet. Perhaps he was sensing they were gifted. "You've talked with Irina, and Kate will be back soon."

"This is Bella." Christy watched Bella blush a little. "Bella Swan." She watched a few eyes widen. "She's been involved with vampires before, so when I came across her I took over her protection. She needed it. Carlisle Cullen didn't anticipate all the potential problems of leaving her behind." She glanced around the house. "She's going to be a part of my coven now."

"This is Bella Swan, Edward's Bella?" Tanya stared incredulously at her and then at Bella.

"He doesn't own her." Christy growled just a little. "Don't call her that again." She hadn't missed the way Bella flinched. "But yes, she knew them. They took her in and then left her with full knowledge of vampires when they left her here." Christy grimaced, as she glanced at Bella. Bella just nodded, and Christy started to tell the Denali's some of what she'd read in the Twilight book. She talked about Bella and Edward dating, and did her best to stay focused while Bella's tears started. She noticed Kate slip in quietly. Kate went around to the side of the couch that Laurent was in, and in her arms she held a squirming and unhappy opossum. Christy could smell the blood, and knew he was being fed, so she ignored those two and continued with her story. From the sounds of it he wasn't likely conscious yet. She filled in the information about how James' coven came into it all, and about the hunt that ended his life and started Victoria on her current mission. She was sure some of what she told them they knew, but from Edward's blind side of the story.

Once she got to the part of the story that had the disaster of the birthday Christy glanced around and noticed the quietly crying girl, the talk of her birthday proved more than she could take. Her hand reached out to hold Bella's in support, but she needed this story told. She could hear the others leaning forward, making her think she was right. "Even on the day of her birthday he was telling her how much he loved her, and then after the attack, just a few days, he broke up with her and took his family away."

"That idiot." Tanya muttered too quietly for Bella to hear. "I can't believe Carlisle let him get away with this. They broke the law, and her heart, and I would be willing to bet all the blood in Alaska that he did it to keep her safe, but here she is, in another vampire coven."

"And if Laurent had killed her, and he's a part of your coven, then Carlisle's own family would still have been responsible." Christy muttered just as quietly as she hugged Bella, but stared over her at Tanya. She was talking fast and quiet so the human didn't hear, but she'd fill Bella in later if the girl wanted. "You do claim them as family, do you not? Victoria has declared this a blood feud with the Cullens, with Bella merely as the prize. If you think Laurent was all she had, you're wrong. I'm expecting a full war. Laurent was just the scout."

"When you say full war?" Tanya spoke while sitting up straighter, and even Irina had pulled her eyes away from the corner he was starting to come to in to stare at Christy.

"She's already made one newborn, and she's visited the south." Christy tilted her head and stared at Tanya meaningfully. "I mean a full war."

"How can you know such a thing, you aren't a seer." Eleazer spoke up.

"And you can't see what I am, but you know I'm gifted." Christy turned to him. "She's gifted too, isn't she? But you can't see what it is." Christy glanced down at the human not realizing her momentary break of control was long enough for a full conversation at vampire speeds.

"True." He shared a look with Tanya, "You knew about my gift."

"I 'know' some things. I 'knew' I had to protect Bella and I 'know' what is coming." Christy also knew that there was a vampire that had the gift of just 'knowing' so she'd claim it as her own for right now. "Laurent is waking up and until I know he is no longer a threat, I can't tell you how I know anything. You've already told him about the Cullens and he's told Victoria how to work around Alice's powers. You've already crippled their ability to protect themselves or Bella, because once they know what is happening here, I fully expect they'll come back. They love her, they are just too self-hating to see how she could love them back."

"Edward." Tanya muttered, proving she knew that vampire well enough.

"Whether or not Laurent really cares about Irina," And Irina was staring at her a little oddly, Christy noted. "He used his visit with you to get all he needed to attack the Cullens. Victoria will put a newborn in charge of making decisions, someone that Alice has never met. She won't decide anything, her newborn will bring her humans to turn, and will take care of them and will determine the day they attack."

"Oh my god, that would work." Kate sat down heavily on the couch she'd been standing behind.

Bella started to pull back and Christy looked into her face. "You can go to the bathroom and clean up if you'd like." Christy told her softly, her hand wiping a tear off Bella's warm cheek.

"I'm sorry." Bella's voice cracked.

"You've done well. I'm sorry you had to hear it, living it was hard enough." Christy had been impressed with the fact that Bella did fill in details, did answer questions, and proved to be able to say the word Cullen again. She still couldn't say Edward though.

"I'll be right back." Bella muttered while standing up.

"No, take your time." Christy told her and watched the girl look up and stare into her eyes. "Really, take your time."

"Oh," Bella glanced over at the corner that Laurent was waking in. Christy could hear his groan and the shifting of limbs she wished he didn't still have.

"Yes." Was all Christy said and Bella nodded, before glancing at the others and leaving.

"I want to know if what she said is true." Irina spoke, her voice raspy.

"It is." Christy blinked and stared at Tanya when the vampire said that so certainly. Tanya just stared back at her. "I'm good at spotting liars." Was all Tanya said, and Christy was impressed, if her cockiness in this was earned. It would have to be experience, because a power wouldn't do it with Christy, or at least she didn't think so. Powers had gotten past her before, that was why she'd been on the run in the last world.

"I'll have to test that sometime, but today is hard enough. I don't need to play two truths and a lie with you." Christy had been trained to lie well.

"That fucker." Irina's voice rose and Christy watched the side of the dining table shatter under Irina's grip.

"Alright, let's test your lie detector just a little." Christy said as Irina looked to be ready to cry now. Christy stared at Tanya and willed this bit of honesty to work. "I need you to question him and prove to your sister without a doubt that he did what I said he did. He needs to die and she needs to accept it. I only let him live this long to save her from following him."

Christy didn't even know the language Tanya swore in after she stopped talking. She didn't need to, though, to know she was believed.

In the end, Christy didn't have to be a monster, and it was Irina herself that tossed a newly severed leg into the fire they had going to keep Bella warm. Tanya was good at asking questions and Christy had added a few of her own. Laurent was not as good a liar as he thought he was. After the screaming started, the anger, Christy could hear Bella's heart racing and she ran up there to hold the girl until Laurent was silent and Irina was sobbing into one of her sister's shoulders.

Tanya came up to the bathroom they were in and stood in the opening, just staring for a moment. "I apologize for any part my coven had in your current troubles." She spoke directly to Bella. "So many of the Volturi laws have been broken around us, and we are right in the middle of it all. We cannot let this continue and hope to escape punishment. We will see this through." Tanya met Christy's eyes. "We will see this all through."

"Thank you." Christy wasn't positive, but it looked like she had her allies. The meaningful look given to Bella though, that made her think that if Bella's choice was to remain human there would be a problem.

Christy took a moment to stare at her own eyes in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. One question she'd had since she got here was answered, at least partly. Her main power, her ability to take in death energy, still existed. Without bloodlust, since no blood was being spilt, Christy found she sensed the moment Laurent died. It was a little reassuring to know that power that had been first and been so core to who she was, was still there. She'd have to experiment with it a bit to see if she only sensed vampires now, or if she could sense humans if she wasn't in the middle of feeding at the time. Bloodlust might have just overshadowed the typical reactions.

Her eyes weren't glowing, and were still that vibrant red, so Christy didn't need to explain that much just yet. She followed a nervous Bella out of the bathroom. "Just keep your distance from Irina if she doesn't approach you. Give her time, but everything is okay." Christy offered quietly, still knowing even Irina probably heard that.

"There is no evidence that we've used the fireplace for anything unusual." Eleazer spoke, and Bella couldn't hear it. Christy was grateful for the heads up, she'd forgotten to even think about that.

As Bella stepped into the main room, Christy noted her eyes went to the broken dining table and stared at it for a puzzled moment, before looking around at the coven in the room.

To break the tension in the air Christy sighed heavily. "I'm sorry that I have no electricity. This place is rather boring without it." She apologized to all her current 'guests'.

"We will take care of that." Tanya spoke up from the love seat she was sitting on. "That is, if you want us to move here until this is resolved." Her voice was a bit unsure.

Christy paused, considering that and given how much guard duty was about to be necessary, she had to nod yes. "I think that's a good idea." She said and then pulled out a dining table chair to sit on it, Bella quietly took the seat next to her.

Christy glanced over at the living room portion of the main room and noticed the two of them had almost a complete audience, Irina was still a bit distracted, and understandably so. "I'm fine with sharing the house, and if you can get the power that would be great. I do have a treaty with the local shapeshifters though, and I think we need to talk to them about Victoria." Christy grimaced a little. "I lied to get that treaty, I'll need your help to maintain that. I told them I was 'family' to the Cullens."

"And they believed that?" Kate asked, staring at Christy's red eyes.

"I killed a rapist that was attacking the Alpha's ex-girlfriend. It made them a little more agreeable. The Alpha made an official claim that I am not a human drinker, that the bastards I feed on don't deserve to be called humans, and so we could have that treaty. I could kill rapists in town and they'd be fine with it."

"Oh," Kate's eyes widened just a little.

"I don't advertise that Bella's in training to be changed, they would have an issue with that, but there is a good size loophole that will let me change her when it comes time and still honor that treaty. I believe I have a more lenient treaty than the Cullens do actually. They are just kids, they don't know how this all works yet, they don't word things properly." Christy explained

After a moment of debating, Christy sighed. "I also have a future wolf that no one knows is turning that I'm looking out for. She's had a rough time lately, and it's only going to get rougher. She might visit me and I want her to always feel like she can visit me, but they all smell a little unpleasant."

"You made friends with a shifter? That is impressive, what Carlisle and Edward said about them last time they were living in this area didn't make them seem too friendly to our kind." Tanya spoke up with a searching look aimed at Christy.

"She's a future wolf, there is a good chance when she really is a shifter she won't be allowed to talk to me anymore. The term Alpha is absolute with them, he could order anyone of them to do anything and they would have to obey. If he doesn't want Leah to be my friend, it will be over as soon as she shifts." Christy explained and then glanced at Bella, before looking back at the Denali Sisters watching her. "I'm kind of friendly with one of the elders, but he has a heart condition. If he comes over, please move human slowly, I don't want him scared. He's going to die very soon and I don't want him doing that here."

"I assume you are hoping the shifters will help us fight?" Eleazer spoke slowly and Christy could see the studying he was doing of her, she was a bit of a mystery and she knew it.

"Yes, I believe they'd be willing if I told them what Victoria is doing, and I'm hoping to minimize the border tricks she'd pull. Victoria has a gift of evading danger, it's like self-preservation on steroids and she would find that border even if she didn't know about it and she'd dance it keeping us from being able to catch her." Christy shook her head. "Without the Cullens here, my treaty stands and I'm going to blur that border a bit. If the wolves won't let us come on their land, fine, I'm gonna give them a neutral zone out of ours. It would help, don't know if it would help enough, but it's a start."

"Speaking of gifts, can you tell us a bit more about yours now?" Tanya asked and Christy ran her hand through her hair as she considered that one.

"Mine is an odd one." Christy could hear Bella's heart beating just a little faster and gave the girl a small smile to reassure her. "My whole story is an odd one." Christy admitted softly and relaxed as she got ready to share a few things they might believe, or at least in a way they might believe it. "Cliffnotes version, I absorb the energy people give off when they die and I can use it to create portals to other worlds." All the golden eyes in the room widened. "I had developed this power as a human, or mutant, since I had a pretty strong power I wasn't really fully human. I used it and slammed into the ME of this world, who had this body." Christy patted her chest twice. "Well, now it's my body and I'm a vampire. It was a bit of a shock to become a vampire so suddenly, and this body is rather firm, so my other powers just aren't working, except my death energy absorbing still works."

"It does?" Bella asked.

"Seems to be working." Christy offered quietly, not elaborating that it was Laurent's death that showed her that. She looked back at Tanya, who was studying her with a slight frown on her face. "The body has been a vampire for a little over ten years, I've been a vampire for a couple of months."

"Cute, I saw Sliders too when it was out." Kate muttered, clearly disbelieving. "The body snatching was a nice touch though."

"Kate, wait." Tanya whispered too quietly, her words slow. She then stared at Christy again. "I couldn't judge most of that, but when you said you've only been a vampire for a few months, that was the truth."

"You mean we either have Quinn of the Sliders playing around with different worlds or we have a newborn here?" Kate's voice rose.

"There is no way she's a newborn. She is perfectly fine sitting next to Bella." Carmen spoke up, her voice more hesitant than the others.

"That is true." Eleazar spoke up and stared at her a little strangely again. It made Christy feel like he was looking for evidence of her powers. "Newborns are not able to be near humans for any length of time, the blood is too much to take. You may not be a newborn, but just months, only months, and you take her out hunting with you." He shook his head, clearly impressed.

"Is it really that unusual that Christy can take me hunting?" Bella asked, and got a few more vampire eyes on her and off of Christy.

"Very unusual. We pick the better smelling prey when we hunt, which is why we make sure we're far from humans when we finally let instinct take over." Tanya spoke up. "Humans are always better smelling."

Christy just grinned when Bella looked at her. It wasn't like she wasn't used to being unusual. "Remember Bella, being different just makes you special." Christy teased in a fake voice. Her voice went back to her own. "As for the inside information, that isn't my doing. I don't see the future. Someone else had the power to see into this world from my last world, and she wrote down what she saw. I read it, and here I am. My being here changes some things, but so far I still think I have an edge. I have a few months of insider information left, but I'm hoping to make it obsolete quickly." Christy liked the new explanation she had, and she might use it all the time, it took the pressure off of her and put it all on Stephenie Meyer for writing those books.

Christy turned to Bella. "Bella uses her powers constantly, she can't turn them off." Christy pointed the stares at the human in the room, so that no one took Bella for granted. She was also trying to keep things light for a little while, they had a lot to do, but some trust, at some level had to come first or the vampires Christy had hoped would help could become a problem themselves. "She's a mental shield, and while that's a part of my own power and how I control mine, it's her complete power. I have no idea if she's stronger or not, already, before being turned." She did know that Bella would have the ability to share that shield as a vampire though, but she hadn't even told Bella she had knowledge of her as a vampire yet. Bella should hear that privately when it was time.

"I used to say humans rarely showed a full power, just a tendency, but now we have the two of you." Eleazar spoke slowly.

"I am pretty sure it will become more common. Humans evolve you know. Alice was like us too, before she was turned." Christy thought of her last world. Her words were said casually, but she did kind of wonder if it was vampires that kept the mutant population down in this world. Bella's blood smelled better than normal after all, maybe that was a normal thing for humans with powers.

"So you came from a whole different world?" Kate asked with clear shock in her voice, as she started to believe. "And you know things about our world already, from another human?"

"This is only one of many, so very many." Christy told Kate slowly. "I've been to two others, before I came here. And the human that could see this world was in both of those worlds, or a version of her, her eye firmly on this one."

The shock and minor questions lasted a few moments, but finally it was Irina that spoke up and everyone else quieted. "So you knew I'd die because of Laurent, and you stopped it. How did I die?"

Christy sighed and gave Irina a sympathetic look. "You were so eager to believe he was innocent, and it wasn't me that stopped him, it was the shifters. The Cullens came back in that story, after Bella nearly killed herself." Christy glanced at Bella, and the girl looked too pale. Christy reached out and took her hand. "There are other ways to get them back if you want that, don't do that to me." Christy spoke to Bella softly, a little concerned that she might have given her ideas. She looked over at the spellbound vampires, "And they asked for your help with Victoria, the help you are giving me, but you said no. You stayed distant, because you hated the shifters that lived here and the Cullen's wouldn't let her go after revenge. You saw something that made you think the Cullen's had broken the law and you went to the Volturi, who were all too eager to go after the Cullens, they wanted to steal Alice, and wouldn't have minded Edward and Bella as well." Tension was growing in the room. "The confrontation didn't go well, and the Volturi killed you to try and gain an upper hand with your family, who stood with the Cullens. You died because you refused to believe Laurent was guilty of so much, and your desire for revenge clouded everything. That's why we needed you to believe this time, why I took your call when I saw you were on the phone."

Whatever language they spoke was old and Christy understood nothing, but the fact that they were shocked and hurt. The other two sisters ended up in the same space, holding Irina tight. Carmen and Eleazar moved closer as well. That was apparently the last straw, they reached a point where the Denali's asked about rooms, and Christy sent them upstairs while planning, for tonight, to stay in the main room with Bella. It was the only heated one, so Bella was going to need it.


	7. Chapter 7

Christy brought Bella blankets for the couch, and then sat down on it next to her. "Are you okay?" She asked softly, but it was obvious they'd have no privacy now. Most of the Denali's had left to hunt, but not all of them.

"You're going through so much to keep me safe." Bella spoke slowly.

"You're worth it." Christy smiled gently at her, "It isn't like I don't come with baggage, sure, you have a vengeful vampire after you, but really, what's that, it's nothing." Bella gave her a weak smile and Christy spoke more seriously. "I will do anything for the people I care about, and what I need to do for you is in no way the hardest I've ever had to deal with."

"They left me to this. You said I had to try and kill myself to get them back." Bella took a shaky breath. "I don't know that I want them back if that's what it took to get them here. I had to have been a mess, I was a mess before you came, and my pain wasn't enough to bring them back. They were going to let me live with that."

"They were stupid, very stupid." Christy agreed. "Personally I blame him for most of it. He sees into their heads and he manipulated them into agreeing to things they didn't want to agree to, because he was convinced he knew best, and they have some stupid idea that he had the right to make decisions for you, and that they owed him something for their own mistakes in the past. To me that says he played them, and he didn't hold back. Still, they deserve some blame, in my opinion." Christy almost expected tears, but there was just a grimace. "I'll do my best to not make your decisions, but to make sure you always have what you need to make your own. If you chose wrong, it's still your choice to make, and I'll support it."

"God, why couldn't you be Edward?" Bella said bitterly. "You wouldn't have abandoned me like this, for my own good. I'm sure he did it for my own good, without ever asking what I wanted, without even considering it."

"I can't be your Edward anymore, my shapeshifting power is gone." She smiled at Bella. "But if you decide you want a Christy instead, just ask me out." She teased.

Bella's eyes widened. "You were a shapeshifter, like," Bella's lips moved exaggeratedly as she put no sound to the last word, "Mystique?"

"That's why we became partners, no one else could follow her anywhere." Christy moved to sit back on the couch, partly laying actually. "And yes, I could have taken a man's shape and did before, but those days are over. This body is too hard, it doesn't change."

"Wow, and I thought meeting vampires was strange." Bella said but then gave Christy a hint of a smile.

"Come here, let me keep you cold." Christy smirked as she pulled Bella into her arms, so that Bella was partly laying on her. "I'm going to want to keep you close until this is dealt with, but please tell me if I'm getting annoying." Christy softly into Bella's ear, and stared over her shoulder at the fire. "I don't want you to feel like you're imprisoned, just protected." Christy remembered how Edward had dealt with this and she wasn't going to make those mistakes.

"Are you like Mystique in other ways?" Bella asked after adjusting to the new position, her voice slightly confused.

"What do you mean?"

"You said she was a lesbian." Bella whispered, and Christy took notice of the position she had Bella in finally. It was far too intimate, but Christy hadn't thought twice about doing it.

"Is this not okay, because I don't mean to make you uncomfortable." Christy spoke seriously and started to move her arms, which had been holding Bella comfortably.

"No, no, this is fine." Bella grabbed the arms Christy was moving and tugged a little as if trying to put them back, so Christy did that. "I just wondered."

"Oh, well, yeah." Christy admitted, and Bella's heart didn't beat faster and she didn't pull away.

"So I guess you two?"

"Yeah, we did." Christy smiled just a little, as Bella moved to sit up and face her. There was no disgust, no judgment and Christy, seeing that missing, was a little amused by the curiosity in Bella's eyes. "Friends, good, close friends, with benefits. I wouldn't have left a true partner behind when I left, I would have either fought harder to stay or taken her with me. No she was starting to fall in love with someone else and our 'with benefits' were on the out."

Bella frowned a little. "Of course you wouldn't pull an Edward and disappear."

"Never." Christy spoke firmly, making sure Bella understood she did not agree with him in any way.

"She was stupid not to snatch you up, no one would have been better." Bella muttered the compliment under her breath and Christy squeezed Bella's hand in appreciation.

"Thanks" Christy could see Bella was tired. "Did you want to just go to bed? It's been a hell of a day." Christy started to get up off of Bella's make shift bed when Bella's eyes looked even more tired at the mention of sleep.

"Can you stay? I'm sure I'll have nightmares after today," Bella's words trailed off. "I don't want to be alone."

"I wasn't going to leave you. I gave my bedroom up to Tanya, I was really hoping you'd share tonight." Christy spoke gently. "Regardless of what I may have done in the past, I do prefer to at least know the people I sleep with." She teased.

"You don't sleep." Bella smiled.

"Exactly."

Christy could hear Tanya chuckle from the room she'd given up. Tanya had been the one already hunting when the day started and was the one that didn't need to now.

Bella took a while to fall asleep, but she did. Christy had a Harry Potter book in her hand and was reading it by the light from the fire, as she sat on the loveseat in full view of the couch should Bella open her eyes. She could hear Tanya coming down the stairs at a slow human pace, and looked up to see the blonde glancing at Bella on the couch before stepping into the room. "You two sound very close." Tanya spoke quietly, clearly keeping Bella's sleeping in mind.

"We were both alone. She has a dad she lives with, but they aren't close. Her mother isn't close either, even though Bella will claim they are, they aren't. She had no one to turn to, and even if she were close with someone she couldn't tell anyone anything without editing it to pieces." Christy studied the sleeping girl. "And I was alone, all alone, again. Starting up in a new world is hard." Her eyes moved back to Tanya. "How close was Irina to Laurent?" She finally asked, they were alone after all.

"He was charming." Tanya sighed and looked at the fire they'd used to kill him. "And she tends to jump into things fully once she finally commits. It took some work to get through to her, but he put in the time and it seemed like she was going to finally have a mate. We've all be disappointed over the years, we've been alive long enough to play house with the wrong one a few times before having it fall apart, but we always hope." Her golden eyes moved back to Christy. "When we switched our diet to animals, it made meeting possible mates a bit harder. Not many vampires will understand, it seems like we're judging if we don't eat the way they do, or they like to share the thrill of the hunt, but moose or bear aren't what they are after. He said he was willing to change, that was a first and so his slips ups and accidents were just considered part of learning control, I never noticed how carefully he worded things, I didn't want to look too hard, I didn't want to find something I'd have to tell her about."

"People in love rarely listen when you tell them something isn't right." Christy spoke softly. "So you have to bite your tongue and just wait for the pain to hit them, for them to have to see. That is hard." Christy was thinking of Bella in that moment. Edward would come back and it was going to be a hard battle not to point out his flaws, to demand Bella deserves better. She was going to have to learn to stand aside and hope she'd instilled enough self-confidence and strength into Bella, given her enough chances to grow, that he wouldn't put her light out again.

"She'll be fine, in time. Being able to hear it from him, believing it, made a difference." Tanya leaned forward. "You made a difference, and I can't thank you enough for saving my sister. We will do what we can to spare your coven any losses as well."

"Christy, I don't want to eat lawyer, I'll get sick." Bella mumbled in her sleep and Christy turned to stare at the girl, who was sleep talking.

Tanya chuckled as Bella just tried to roll over, never waking, but on the couch she barely moved before she gave up.

"Okay, I'll try to remember not to feed her lawyer." Christy playfully grimaced and then shifted her attention to Tanya again.

"You will really let her live on our diet though?" Tanya asked after Bella didn't say anything more for another minute. "A diet you don't plan to switch to."

"If that's what she wants." Christy shrugged. "I just think I can do more good with my diet, and the animals have it bad enough with what the humans are doing to them, but not everyone can handle killing something that can talk back, even if they are soulless bastards. I don't expect she could live on my diet, it would bother her."

"I've never seen a mixed coven before, not on this issue."

"Well, we'll manage." Christy's voice went quieter. "If she stays with me, we'll manage. I'm not sure it will work if the Cullens are back though. I think they might try to make me change or drive me away. I can't say I'm eager to meet them now, she's all I have and they'll think they have a greater claim on her, even though they left."

"You told us not to tell anyone about her," Tanya motioned toward Bella, "but more help would only make this easier, and faster."

"If Bella says she wants them back, or if the situation gets so bad we need the numbers, we'll try to call them, but I will not bring them back before Bella is ready to deal with them. She was a mess when I found her," Christy looked at Bella as she said that. "You could just see she was disconnected, making the motions, but she was dying inside. He hit every one of her insecurities on his way out, all of her fears, and he did some of it on purpose to make it easier for him to leave her, easier on him. They let him hurt her." Christy heard the hint of a growl in her own voice. "I'm inclined to give her as much Cullen free time as I can, they don't respect her, they don't listen to her and I'm trying to make her strong enough to deal with that. If they come back too soon she'll become their doormat again."

"They loved her, they had to have in order to do all of this." Tanya protested.

Christy knew she needed Tanya's cooperation and she thought before she spoke. "Yes, they did love her, but they were smothering her with it. Especially him."

"You rarely say his name."

"She used to go catatonic when she heard it. I've learned not to say it. It breaks her a little more every time she hears one of their names. I'm surprised she got through tonight so well." Christy grimaced. "She'll have to see them again to finish healing, but she's barely scabbed over right now and I want to give her time to grow enough to deal with them. Once the Cullens are back they will object to me, and to the work we're doing to repair the damage they did. I'm having Bella make lot of decisions, having her plan out two lives, and making her chose the age she wants to be turned at. I want her to put a lot of thought into what being turned will mean to her before it happens, so that she doesn't regret it. I want her to wait, to choose an age that will give her the most opportunities to explore life fully. A teenager is too young, redoing high school forever would make existence monotonous, and if she were older she could explore careers, see the world, do so much more without having to build up a child's cover. HE is still a child, regardless of his age, and the repetitiveness of his life has never let him grow up. A grown up wouldn't have messed this relationship up this badly. I want more for her."

"You don't just mean a better life than the younger Cullens when you say that, you don't want her back with him." Tanya spoke slowly after a moment.

"The book that was written had her taking him back, and he was worse than before. Hell, he thought he knew better how to take care of a human than someone who was human would know. I don't believe he respected her at all, and she's not a child with unreasonable requests. If I had to trust either one of them to do the right thing it would be her, not him, and yet he doesn't listen to her." Christy's voice went quieter and she stared into Tanya's eyes. "He is emotionally abusive, and borders on verbally so with her. He thinks he is doing the right thing, it isn't hate that causes it, but I swear to god if I witness it I will make him pay. He ripped her down like this, you aren't even seeing the worst of it and I don't want him to do that to her again. She's capable of so much more and I love her, I can't let her be controlled by him."

"I didn't think he'd be that way." Tanya frowned. "But you aren't lying to me."

Christy gave a grim smile. "Is that a power you have, or experience?" She'd been forcing herself not to lie because Tanya was doing so well seeing through her, and so she needed to keep some trust there.

"Eleazer claims it's a power, but I have honed it with experience. I'm not sure my 'power' is working on either of you, but I've learned a lot about liars with my power and I can see lies even on TV now."

"Must make watching political debates hell then." Christy said to cover up her relief. If she needed to lie, she just needed to be perfect at it. It was hard, but she might have a shot at it.

Tanya laughed, "So true." Her smile faded to something more serious again. "Alice doesn't need to be told something to know it. She'll see this, I don't know why she hasn't yet, but she will see this. All of us here, at some point she'll look for one of us, and she'll come to see what's happening."

"I'm sure she will, but if we wait for her to come we might get more time."

"Edward isn't with them." Tanya told Christy something Christy was well aware of.

"I don't make decisions that affect her without her, and with Alice in the wings we don't make decisions too often that might draw her attention, so if you want me to agree to Cullen help, you need to ask in the morning, so she can be part of it." Christy hoped Bella was on the same page as her, that she'd put off calling the Cullens for a while. "I will not dictate to her what she can and cannot do if I can avoid it at all; I will not treat her like her opinion doesn't matter."

"Are you in love with her?" Tanya's question surprised Christy and she turned to stare with a little of that surprise on her face. "Some of how you talk to her, and what you want for her, it sounds a lot like love to me."

"She's still finding out who she really is. It's been buried by that asshole. Falling in love with her now wouldn't do either of us any good, and that's assuming she could love a woman."

"That was a very careful non-answer." Tanya pointed out.

"That's because I don't have an answer." Christy admitted. "Today, right now, no, but what I see emerging from her, the Bella she's becoming, I'm not willing to say never. I've turned down promising offers because the girl was too young before, and she turned into someone I could have loved, and also someone that was very committed to her lovers. I missed the boat there." Annie came to mind, not as the child she'd been when she'd asked Christy out, but the loyal and strong woman she'd become. "I'm not aging anymore and everyone is going to be too young. Still, I'll likely not get a chance to find out, because she's still so wrapped up in him and he will come back. He's doing all he can to stay away, the stupid child, he'll crack at some point."

"I see." Tanya frowned as she stared a little blankly at Bella's sleeping form.

Bella shifted and tugged the pillow closer to her face, her slight discontented moan escaped. "Don't leave me." Her words sounded pained and Christy got up from her loveseat and moved to Bella's side, putting her cold hand on Bella's cheek.

"I won't leave you." She told the girl, but she didn't expect it was going to help. It sounded too much like the Edward nightmares she'd read about.

"Christy stays." Bella whispered and Christy's eyes widened in surprise as the girl took her hand and held it, leaving Christy in an awkward pose above her. Christy moved around to the back of the couch, so it was a bit more natural and then looked up at Tanya, who was studying them.

"Are you honestly good at fighting?" Tanya asked her and it seemed an unusual question to ask at the moment.

"I've been trained by the best, and I was a spy in wartime. I have fought stronger and tougher and still won. Not little one on one matches, but real battles where someone can come at you from any side while you're busy with the one in front of you." She sighed. "This body is new to me though, and I need to train with someone that can fight back so I can learn what it can do. I've been training on my own."

"I can help you with that." Tanya offered and then looked down at the hand Bella had captured. "And you think the shifters will help?"

"I think I can talk them into it, but it might be an uneasy alliance, I'm not sure."

"Let's wait until you meet with the shifters before we go making any decisions." Tanya offered and Christy understood what she was saying. "To me it looks like you're getting somewhere with her, there is no need to introduce the ex-boyfriend into the equation." Tanya added her reason and Christy just nodded. Whatever Tanya thought didn't matter, as long as no one was calling Edward.

Tanya left them alone and Christy slowly got Bella to release her long enough to just get on the couch behind her and hold her. Perhaps she'd keep Bella's nightmares away.

Morning felt like an awkward morning after in the house, with vampires all over the house moving just a bit self consciously. It was learning to live with someone new in a new place. The power was still out and Tanya said twice she'd call Monday. Carmen offered to make Bella's breakfast over the fire, but there were no real groceries. They had breakfast bars. In seeking some normalcy, Christy offered to go out to the garage and practice tai chi with Bella, but even as Bella was accepting a noise drew Christy's attention to the front windows.

"Incoming." Kate muttered from her place in the chair.

"That's Leah's SUV." Christy spoke up and glanced at Bella.

"Hold on Seth, she's got to be home. Just hold on." Leah's voice reached her and Christy's eyes widened.

"Stay inside, at least until I tell them I'm not alone." Christy ordered as she looked at a few vampires, and she was out the door in no time at all.

"Christy, I think Seth's about to change." Leah yelled, and it must have been out of an opened window. Christy stood at the bottom of the stairs and waited for the SUV to finish coming down the driveway.

"Of course he is." Christy muttered, and then her voice rose. "Okay, don't get too close to either of them. A first time changing is traumatic and they are capable of doing damage before they even realize what is happening."

"Will you be okay?" Tanya stood in the doorway for a moment, looking at her.

"These kids trust me, I'll be fine. They don't know you." Christy explained, but she was guessing really. Tanya's frown proved she didn't believe her.

The SUV was kicking up dust as it came into sight, Christy ran toward the garage and waved with both hands in the air to get Leah's attention. The girl slammed on brakes just in time and tossed it in park before leaping out. "He's sweating and says he feels sick. Dad said that's a sign it's about to happen, and we don't have time to get home."

"It'll be okay." Christy reassured her and then moved to the other side of the vehicle. "Seth, I want to get you into the garage, into a larger space. I'll need to help you, because I can move fast enough to get out of your way if I need to. Leah can't." She stopped outside the passenger side window. "I won't hurt you Seth, but my scent is going to bother you." He had glistening skin from the sweat and he looked ill, but he nodded.

She moved as fast as she could and still be at a somewhat human speed, as she picked him up and just ran for the garage. Leah ran behind her. There was a bench in there and she sat him down on it and backed up. "Okay, so it's wolf day." She gave him a bit of a reassuring smile. "I'm glad you felt you could come here, it's not a good idea to wolf out when someone is driving, worse that talking on a cell phone, dealing with a wolf in the car."

"Funny." He croaked out. He was still sweating.

"If you like your shoes, you might want to kick them off." Christy told him and then looked over at a scared looking Leah. "It will be okay." She told her softly as Seth did kick his shoes off.

"Someone's here." Seth sounded puzzled as he looked toward the house.

"I have an animal drinking coven visiting now, and Bella's here." She admitted as gently as she could. "They are staying inside so that you aren't overwhelmed." She looked over at Leah. "We had some trouble last night and maybe after this we can talk about it."

"I don't care what Sam says, if you need our help you have it." Leah spoke, her voice shaky. "I wouldn't have known what to do today if you hadn't made sure we knew this was coming." Tears trailed down her cheeks, "He's my little brother."

"This is gonna be cool Leah, you'll see." He tried to reassure her. Since Christy couldn't get too close to him, she moved to Leah's side and pulled her into a hug.

"It will be okay. He's going to probably be the size of a horse so we can't be too close." Christy pulled back and looked at Leah, taking in her shiny eyes and her pained expression. "Are you doing okay? You might change with him."

"I feel a little sick, but it could just be the situation." Leah told her, and took a step back. "You are so nice, but you smell a bit too strongly."

"Yeah, you too." Christy gave her a small smile and stepped further back, giving both siblings enough room. The garage door was opened and it helped keep the air somewhat fresh if they weren't too close to each other.

"I don't want to be in Sam's pack." Leah whispered, her voice catching, after they waited a tense minute and nothing happened to Seth, he was just sitting there looking pale and miserable.

"If it were possible I would have taken wolves, you both, into my coven." Christy told them. "I would have been honored to have you, but the pack thing, as far as it sounded it was pretty absolute. It's not a choice we can make, but if it were I'd take you and spare you being a part of that one."

"It isn't fair!" Leah yelled, and it was sudden and loud. Christy watched her carefully, and could see a slight shine to her skin. "He broke my heart and now I have to obey him forever!" She started to cry. "It isn't fair."

Christy wanted to hug her, but given what she was seeing she couldn't get closer now. She gave Leah and then Seth a helpless look. "Yes, it is a really crappy situation."

"I won't let him order you around." Seth offered, but they all knew he wouldn't be able to stop it. "Why can't we be our own pack?" He asked weakly, after no one responded to his wish to protect her. It wasn't like Sam was a bad man, but he was her ex and the pack structure was bad enough without that.

Christy thought frantically about what she knew about the tribe, the wolves, and their history. "Jake was supposed to be the Alpha, but he decided not to be, and because of that he's just a part of the pack, and he has to obey Sam. He had a choice at one point to take over or not." With what was happening the shifters around her didn't catch that she hadn't been told that. She didn't have time to spin lies just yet, she'd come up with an excuse later. "Can you choose not to join? If you didn't need them to learn to be a wolf, or to deal with the shock of something strange happening to you, if you already knew, like you do, could you choose not to join? I could teach you to be a shapeshifter, it would be rocky, but I could do it."

"You want to be our Alpha." Seth started to grin, even as his body shook a bit more. "That would be wicked."

"I have experience with shapeshifters in a way, enough that I think I can help." Christy wanted them to believe that, and it was true, but it was a long story they didn't have time for now either. Christy was doing all she could to help, seeing how lost Leah was and how much she'd suffer. If there was a way out, they needed it.

"Or could you choose a different animal?" Christy was tossing out ideas hoping something stuck as they shifted for the first time. "Wolves are pack animals, but Jaguars aren't. It isn't that you are werewolves, that isn't it at all. You're spirit warriors, like your father said, and the wolf was the selected form, the key word being selected. You've spent your whole lives hearing how it was wolves that spirit warriors became, but that doesn't mean that is what you must be."

Seth was looking a bit worse, and the smell was increasing. "You might want to strip down to underwear, or you'll end up wearing smelly vampire clothes home, not a good idea for a brand new shifter." She told him. She looked over at Leah. "You too."

"I'm not sitting in a garage almost naked." She protested and Christy understood that.

"Can someone bring us two blankets?" She called out, a little louder. Then she moved a bit closer to the large doorway. "They won't hurt you, they are here to help with a human drinker problem in the region and I already told them I value the treaty I have with your tribe."

Irina was a surprising choice, but she walked at a human pace from the bottom of the stairs through the yard and toward the garage, holding blankets. Christy looked back to see how the shifters were taking an unknown vampire coming closer. Seth seemed to be trying not to breath as much, and was pulling his shirt off as the blanket got closer. Leah just stared at the vampire in the driveway, her eyes not blinking.

Irina's steps got slower and Christy moved out to take the blankets from her. "Are they going to be okay?" Irina asked slowly, staring at the shifters in the garage.

"It shouldn't hurt too much." Christy offered, to reassure them all. When she turned back she could see Leah still staring and Irina was taking in the standing female shifter. Christy paused and looked back and forth between them, and the odd staring match. "Oh wow." She whispered to herself.

Seth was shaking worse and those blankets weren't going to help him, it was almost time. "I'm sure you'd prefer that these shifters didn't have to join that other pack." Christy said, thinking it was a bit manipulative, but if she was right it might work.

"No, no one should have to obey an ex-boyfriend. I'd take her into our coven too, to spare her." Irina whispered and Leah finally blinked, her eyes widening.

"Back up," Christy told Irina and almost grabbed her arm to back her up, but Leah's glare at Christy's moving hand stopped her. "Back up Irina, they are about to go." She barely got those words out and Leah shifted, her clothes ripping and hitting walls and ceilings. Seth made a distressed sound before he too fell to four feet as a wolf. They were tall, her especially.

"Everything will be okay." Christy spoke as soothingly as she could. "I know everything sounds so loud, and looks so strange." She glanced at Leah, "And you feel like gravity has moved, and nothing is the same, but it will be okay."

Christy didn't ask them to shift back right away, even though the longer they were wolves the better chance they'd be caught by someone in the pack mind. No, she watched over them as they practiced walking in the Cullen's front yard. Irina stayed outside with them, and Leah's eyes went to her often. "To return to your human form you have to be able to visualize, and internalize. You have to think about having hands again, standing upright again, feeling the breeze on skin, not fur." Christy spoke softly, remembering how she controlled her own powers when she had it. "It works that way both ways, you remember what it feels like in the other form and you let yourself expect that you are in that form."

Seth stood still and closed his eyes. His form shifted slower than it had on his way to wolf, but then he stood in the yard blinking. Christy moved toward him slowly, holding the blanket out. "Thanks." He told her and wrapped it around him. Today was such a surprise he didn't notice he was naked, or didn't act panicky about it. He gave Irina a puzzled look and then just stared at his sister, again.

When Leah stood in two feet again, Irina moved closer to hand her the blanket. Leah stared at her with a stunned look on her face still, and slowly wrapped the blanket around her. "You've imprinted Leah." Christy spoke softly. "Do you want to explain it, or have me do it?"

"I'll explain." Leah sounded nervous, a bit afraid.

"Here." Christy tugged her shirt up over her head and held it out for Leah. Christy had a bra on, it covered what it had to, and it was important for Leah to feel somewhat comfortable. She was still afraid of rapists, she didn't need to be walking around in nothing but a blanket. The shirt was a little long so it would cover what it needed to, barely. Christy leaned down and pulled her shoes off as well. "Hope these fit. I don't get splinters, but I think you still might. You need shoes."

"Thank you." Leah stood in front of her holding the shirt that had to smell like hell to her, and she had tears in her eyes. "Really, thank you." It wasn't about the clothes at all. Irina held the blanket up in a way to give Leah privacy and only have her exposed to the woods, so the new wolf pulled that shirt on immediately.

"Anytime Leah." Christy told her gently. "I'll find more clothes for you, but I need these pants." The bra was modest enough, but the panties weren't.

In a moment the front door opened and a pair of pants were set on the railing. The others didn't come outside though, and Christy appreciated that. She went and got the pants and brought them to Leah as well.

"Irina, if it seems too good to be true, don't screw it up with doubts, just have her talk to Tanya." She smiled at the confused looking vampire. "Congratulations ." Christy smiled and turned that smile to a shy looking Leah as well. "Really." She told Leah.

Irina steered Leah into the woods after she was dressed again, and that meant it was Seth's turn, but he'd left his clothes in the garage. "I guess we should explain it to Irina's coven. You up to it?"

"As soon as I get some pants on." Seth blushed a little and walked into the garage where his clothes were waiting, thankfully he'd taken his off because she had nothing that would fit him. Christy waited just out of sight for him.

"Are you okay with this?" Christy motioned toward the trees the new couple had walked through once he stepped back out, dressed.

"I was in Leah's head." He spoke slowly, and that confirmed the pack mind was there, Christy hoped that wouldn't be a problem. "I can't have a problem with this. It was amazing, and I am so happy that something good came out of this for her. It was all shit for her, nothing good at all, and I'm glad she got something good. I felt a bit bad, because I was pretty jazzed to be a wolf, but she was going to hate every second of it. This makes it better. The vampire girl thing is odd, but we'll deal."

"I'm thinking we should probably talk in the yard." Christy spoke as she neared the stairs. "The smell inside would have to be overwhelming for you." She didn't point out that his scent would not improve the place for her either, but she did wonder at why his scent hadn't gotten worse after shifting, he smelled a little better actually. "Have a seat, I'll go get them." She pointed to a stump the right size for a seat and moved to go inside the house.

Everyone was in the main room. Christy gave Bella a reassuring look. "In the beginning they sometimes can't control the shifting, so just don't get too close. Did you guys get to see them?"

"They were huge." Bella spoke up, sounding a bit stunned still. Christy noticed the human blush as she looked at her and Christy was reminded she needed another shirt.

"Yep, they are huge. I'll be right back." She ran up to the room she'd been using and grabbed something else to wear, before heading back down.

"Things got a little more complicated, but in a good way. Let's go outside and get to know Seth." Christy smiled and led more hesitant vampires outside, with Bella at her own side.

"Leah and Irina will be back soon, won't they?" Bella asked, and Tanya looked like she was also wanting an answer to that.

"I'm not sure, it might take a while." Christy smiled at Seth, who gave her a somewhat conspiring smile back. "So this is Seth Clearwater." Christy had them stop about ten feet away from him. "Seth, this is Bella, she's with me." Christy turned to Tanya and ignored the smirk she was getting. "This is Tanya, and she's the leader of the Denali coven."

"Nice to meet you Seth." Tanya smiled warmly. "You've met my sister Irina, this is Kate," Tanya pointed out the members of her coven. Christy liked how polite Tanya was being, because she didn't know yet that she was meeting family. If they'd acted like Rosalie would have, it would have been a disaster.

"Okay, do you want to do it or shall I?" She asked Seth, as she settled in by leaning up against another tree.

"Well, there are stories that my people have about spirit warriors, or the wolves we become, Leah's the first girl." Seth sounded a bit shaky and Christy sighed.

"Right," She took over and saw his grateful look. "So they become wolves when there is a threat to the tribe. Lately it's been if vampires are nearby that the young with the right family lines start changing, but it's always been men in the past. Seth is too young, it shouldn't be him yet, and Leah is the first woman that they know of ever changing, like he said."

"They don't know yet, no one else was in our heads." Seth spoke up, and Christy was relieved with that. "Um yeah, we can hear each other when we're shifted." He blushed as he told them that.

"That would be hard to deal with." Tanya spoke softly.

"Yeah, it could be. She's my sister, I expect it will get weird." His blush was not going away, and Christy could understand that even though she'd never had that problem, and never would.

"There are so many stories his people have, but there is one thing that we need to talk about now." Christy took over, giving Seth a break from it. "They do something called imprinting."

"If they're lucky." Seth muttered under his breath.

"It's like finding your soulmate, your perfect bond." Christy smiled a little. "The mate that will never leave, ever." She held Tanya's eyes. "Irina scored big time, Leah imprinted on her."

"Irina and Leah?" Eleazer sounded stunned and he looked out toward where the couple had gone.

"I know, people will think it's a bit odd, but it protects Irina from the wolves, because they can't hurt an imprint." Christy felt really happy that the two people so abused in this world were going to find happiness together. "And it may give Leah a way out of La Push, because they won't want Irina there and so they'd have to release Leah. You can't separate imprints."

"I didn't even think of that. I was just so happy she was finally happy." Seth grinned. "She might be free of Sam. That would be great."

Bella seemed a little tense, and so Christy held her hand and gave her a small smile. "Leah has had it really rough, so has Irina. They deserve to be happy." She told Bella softly, but she rubbed Bella's fingers in support. Bella was still not too great with romance talk.

"I believe this makes you family." Tanya spoke slowly to Seth, studying him.

They chatted while they waited, and they waited for a while. Christy hoped it took so long because it was going well.

"How are you doing?" Christy asked Seth after a pause in talking gave her the chance.

"I'm doing okay. Dad taught Leah and I some meditation things to do to try and control the mood swings." He grimaced. "I'm doing the best I can."

"Oh, speaking of your dad, did you need to call him?" Christy asked, and Tanya offered her phone up for use when the answer was yes. Seth stepped into the woods a bit for privacy, so Christy tried to focus on other things.

Bella looked cold. "Oh, did you want to go inside? I'm sorry, I didn't notice it was chilly out."

Bella gave Christy a smile and shook her head. "I'm fine, thanks though."

"You two are surrounded by oddness." Tanya smiled at them. "Shifters and imprinting. Every day will be an adventure here, won't it?"

"We try." Bella joked just a little and Christy smiled, glad that she was joking around.

"Once we iron things out with the shifters, some of us need to go home and close the house down and pack up a few things." Tanya told them.

"I do appreciate the help." Christy spoke quietly.

Tanya smiled. "I think helping you is helping us. Every day is a new adventure."

"Christy, dad wants to talk to you." Seth said as he stepped out of the woods, holding the phone out to her.

She took is gently and held it to her ear. "Harry?"

"I can't," His voice cracked. "I can't ever thank you enough for being there for them. If I hadn't told them, like you said, exactly what you said would have happened. They were so far from home at the time."

"It's what friends do Harry, you don't have to thank me." Christy spoke gently to the man.

"Seth says Leah imprinted during her very first shift." He laughed but it sounded a little choked.

"It's a very good pairing, I think they'll be very happy. Irina is an animal drinker, so those tend to live near woods all the time." Christy told him with a hint of a smile.

"I guess that would be good." He went silent for way too long. "Imprinting on a vampire will be hard on her."

"Not as hard as not imprinting at all, or thinking because she's a female, that she just can't." Christy thought of the Leah in the books.

"I'm going to get the elders together and tell them my kids have changed now." He spoke slowly. "And I'm going to put in a good word for you and your new friends."

"I was going to contact the pack today, but then I was invaded by Clearwaters, and that came first."

"I'll pave the way." He paused, "Can I call you back at this number to set up a meeting?" Tanya nodded when he asked that.

"Sure, that works."

"Where is Leah?"

"She's explaining what an imprint is to Irina." Christy told him. "They moved off for some privacy, but they'll be back soon."

"Okay, good. You tell her I love her and it's okay. The others might say some ignorant shit to her, but she's my daughter and I'm proud of her, I'm proud of both of my kids." He spoke and after she promised they said their goodbyes.

"Wow," Christy handed the phone to Tanya, and stared at Seth. "You have a great dad."

"I know." He nodded. "I think the hospital scared him, he's on a big kick about making sure we know he loves us now. I don't know that I remember when he spent so much time with us."

"Well, at least something good came of that." Christy spoke softly, not hinting that she knew it wasn't the hospital that did it.

Leah and Irina came back out of the woods holding hands and Christy smiled, taking that as a sign the talk went well.

Christy learned that pizza didn't deliver as far out as the Cullen's unless you offered a bit of extra money and placed a big order. They did both and the wolves even surprised themselves when they saw how much they had to eat. "Oh man, Dad's going to go poor feeding us." Seth muttered as he looked down at the three pizza boxes he finished on his own.

"If you end up having to play protector, as for tribal money to supplement your groceries." Christy spoke up. "They can't dictate what you do and not pay for it." Xavier paid for her groceries and other bills when she risked her life for his missions, and it was barely fair, because of what he'd ask her to do, so she'd taken as much of his money as she wanted.

Irina spoke up after Christy and watched Leah as she said it. "I'm quite well off, if you need anything. We buy groceries we can't even eat, just to pass." Christy smiled and looked away from the new couple, catching Tanya's grin as she did it.

They were in the kitchen, it came to the point they'd have to invite the wolves in or be rude, and so they did, but they had all the kitchen windows opened to try and keep the scent of vampires down, and help the wolves keep calm. It was really only Seth they worried about, because Leah seemed to have no problem with the vampire smell. She was wearing Christy's clothes and Irina stayed relatively close and still Leah seemed fine.

"I was hoping we could stand with you at the meeting." Seth spoke up, looking around. "I mean, you've done more for us than that pack ever has, and they'll know it when we shift anyhow, so why pretend?"

"It could cause tension. How about you ask your dad about it first, if he thinks there might be issues with that?" Harry was going to call very soon about that meeting. "Also, Sam may not let you right away. We need to make him understand that you belong with this family." Christy could hear Leah's heart beat faster. "I will not let him get in the way of your imprint Leah." Christy spoke firmly. That seemed to reassure her enough to calm down. It wasn't a battle Christy wanted to fight, but someone had to fight for Leah.

"Now that I have you, no one is taking you away from me." Irina whispered to Leah and the rest of them pretended not to hear it. Irina jumped in with everything once she realized what an imprint was. The pain and gloom that had been around her even since that phone call Christy took the day before weren't there. Irina was tentative, but happy, and Christy liked that.

The phone rang and they had to get to the meeting place. Once she was off the phone, and handed it back to Tanya, Christy looked at the three non-vampires. "Okay, we could run it, drive it, or mix and match who does what."

"I'd really rather drive." Bella spoke up.

"I want to run, to see what I can do," Seth muttered.

"Sam will definitely be a wolf on the way." Leah sighed. "Still, it isn't like we're going to be able to keep any of this a secret."

"Do what you want to do." Christy told them, "Just know that what people think aren't always what they'd be willing to say, but I really think he'll surprise you. He still cares and wants you safe and happy."

"What do you mean?" Leah stared at her and Christy sighed a little and glanced around. They had an audience and she didn't want to embarrass Leah.

"He declared that I wasn't a human drinker because I saved a girl from the res from being raped." Christy stared into Leah's eyes. "He made a treaty with me in spite of my eyes, because of who I saved." She wasn't sure if anyone had told Leah what she'd done, but the wide eyes staring at her proved it was the first she'd heard of it.

"Come on, let's go check out the garage. Perhaps Carlisle left another car out there." Tanya told her people and Christy noticed Tanya gently guided Bella out as well. Irina stayed, sitting stiffly, her eyes on the two of them.

"I am never going to give you trouble over your diet again." Irina whispered as the three of them sat around the table.

"It was you?" Leah's eyes were watering. "Of course it was you, it's always you. You found me on the side of the road with a flat tire, you made my dad tell me what was happening, you were there when I needed a safe place to take Seth. You introduce me to my imprint. It's always you. Every good thing about my life lately is because of you." Christy managed to stand up just before her arms were filled with Leah, crying on her shoulder. "I want you to be my Alpha, I want it to be you. You are everything an Alpha should be."

"If I could, I would take you." Christy whispered into her hair. "I would Leah, I want to, believe me, I want to." She hugged the wolf to her and ignored the dog smell. "But I don't think Sam will be as bad as you think. He created a generous treaty with me because of you after all, so he isn't going to be a tyrant." She pulled back and stared into Leah's eyes. "And I don't have to be your Alpha to watch out for you."

Irina rested a hand on Leah's shoulder and that proved to be a gravity shift, because Leah turned and was pulled into Irina's orbit easily, freeing Christy from her grip.

When they stepped outside the others weren't in cars. In fact only Bella wanted to drive there, everyone else wanted a run, so Christy got in the car with Bella and made arrangements to meet up closer to La Push. She'd have to carry Bella in, but this would shorten the run for the human, and Christy was going to be careful not to jostle Bella when they did that run.


	8. Chapter 8

Christy got behind the wheel, not because she thought Bella couldn't drive her own truck, but because Bella held the keys out for her twice. "I want to talk, and I don't think I can drive and do that." Bella explained.

The others waited for them to take off before leaving, but they'd still get where they were going much faster. "What do you have on your mind?" Christy asked softly as she found she couldn't hear the others anymore.

"Leah." Bella's said the word quietly and there was clear pain in her voice. "Is she going to be okay?"

Christy smiled just a little, pleased to see how Bella was able to distract herself from the murderous vampire hunting her with her concern over other people.

"I believe so." Christy answered slowly. "I really believe the pack won't be too horrible to her, but if they are I'll have to step in."

"Are they going to be upset to see me there? I mean, you weren't supposed to tell me about them."

"And I didn't tell you. You figured it out AND two wolves shifted in the front yard. I think that's enough of a 'cover' for us." Christy smirked. "And technically, it was Jacob that told you when he broke the treaty and told you about Cold Ones. Keep that in mind in case you need to say it."

Bella was quiet for a little while, and Christy thought maybe the next words would be what she was really worried about. "Do we need the Cullens?" Bella asked slowly. "Would it be safer to have them?"

"Alice and Jasper would be helpful." Christy admitted. "I think, based on what I've seen of the Denali's they are the better fighters, but some warning the bad guys are coming would be handy. I'm not that precise, I've just got stories to go by. And Jasper has experience, maybe even more than me, in this type of fighting." She paused. "But honestly, the others might make things worse. I'm the youngest here, and a human drinker. I think getting them to listen to me might be difficult." Christy glanced at Bella. "Getting them to listen to you might be difficult. I don't know if they'd understand that you should make the decisions about your own life. I'm training you to be what they left to prevent you being, I'm giving you a choice that some of them didn't want you to have. We're already telling the Denali's you'll be turned, and not telling the wolves. Loud arguments about it wouldn't help on either front."

"Basically, Edward would make things worse. We're going to risk everyone's lives to avoid Edward making things worse." Bella almost growled and she didn't choke up on his name.

"He doesn't seem so perfect anymore, does he?" Christy asked quietly, confused at how Bella was talking about him.

"I can't believe I used to think he was." Bella let out a long breath.

"No one is Bella, no one is perfect. Thinking they are just puts walls up to reality." Christy didn't add how far from it Edward was. "And I won't risk people's lives because of him. If we need help, we'll find it. If you don't want them, we'll find others."

"You never give up do you?" Bella muttered.

"No, that's kind of what I'm known for, never giving up." Christy smiled and turned the truck onto another road, that would take them toward La Push. They drove in silence for a few miles.

"In the book, during these months, what would have happened if I didn't have you?" Christy turned to glance at Bella after the girl asked that. "If you weren't here, what happened that made me try and kill myself."

"Well, first off I don't know that you were actually trying to kill yourself, just that you leapt into something that was too dangerous." Christy spoke softly.

"So I wasn't committing suicide?"

Christy paused. "I can't really tell. It was written in a way that I was never really sure if you meant to die that day, but you weren't upset about the possibility when it looked like you might." Christy grimaced. "It isn't pretty, this part of the story Bella. Are you sure you want it now, right before we meet the wolves."

"I don't think there will ever be a good time to tell me this, and we have privacy now." Bella spoke up after a moment.

"After they left you went into a kind of shock, moving about as you had to, but you didn't really register time moving. You finally came back to yourself in January or February, after Charlie threatened to send you to live with your mother. He could see you weren't healing here and he didn't know what to do anymore." Christy reached out one hand to hold Bella's. "You started to have odd hallucinations of Edward's voice if you were in danger, so you decided to learn to ride a motorcycle, something dangerous that you'd promised not to do, because he broke promises and you wanted to break promises too." Christy paused. "You had Jacob help you remake the motorcycles you found, and you spent time with him. He became a wolf, and they saved you from Laurent, that's how you learned about the wolves." Christy sighed heavily. "There is so much that happened, but basically the wolves started to protect you from Victoria, and you started to entertain the idea of being with Jacob, simply because you could feel something other than pain with him around. You were still trying to be in danger to hear Edward though, and you jumped off a cliff into stormy waters to get that. Jacob saved you and Alice can't see wolves, so she never saw you come out alive. She rushed to town, thinking you were already gone, to try and at least help Charlie for you."

"So I went crazy." Bella said after a long quiet moment. "I should have been committed, that's what happened?"

"Basically, yes." Christy hated to agree. "You were a danger to yourself, and based on the definition of when to commit someone, you should have been, but who could help you? You had no one to talk to, and when you had Jacob, you couldn't really talk to him because he was a bit prejudice about vampires."

"He drove me insane." Bella's voice cracked.

"He drove, but you got in the car Bella. You accepted everything he said, and believed the worst." Christy pointed out. "And you tossed in the towel in your own life, you just gave up, thinking he was your entire life and without him you had nothing. Bella, you existed before he was around, and you exist without him. Loss hurts, god knows I know that, but there is always another world to explore and other possible futures. I don't want you ever giving up. I want you to always look for the way out, the better solution. If I'd given up I would have missed out on so many things in my life. I've seen the worst of life and I've thought about dying myself, but after those moments I found reasons to live again. You can find happiness again. It's always a possibility."

"Never give up." Bella whispered.

Christy gave her a small smile. "Right, never give up."

"Before you came, I honestly couldn't imagine my life without him. I couldn't see it." Bella spoke quietly and it sounded a little like shame in her voice. "I could believe I might have gone insane, all over him and his family leaving me."

"The situation was a hard one, and I know it hurts." Christy pulled the truck over and shoved it in park, before turning partly to face her. "But you fell completely apart Bella. To me that seems like there is something inside of you that doesn't believe in you. You are a strong, smart, capable young woman who could rise above more than most, and yet you fell apart." Christy reached out a hand and caressed some of Bella's hair out of her face. "You were able to face down a vampire on your own, one that was going to kill you and you stood strong and still thought about others and how to help Alice even as you needed a hospital because of what he did to you. I don't understand why you feel you need anyone to validate you. You are special and brave, and so much more than what this situation led you to." Christy spoke softly. "I wish you could see yourself the way I do. You have the potential of being so much, and while Edward didn't help you achieve that, you were stopping yourself from being your best. I want you to be the best Bella you can be, because I know you'll be amazing."

Bella just stared at her, seemingly in shock, for way too long. Finally her mouth opened, but nothing came out and it closed slowly again. It took another moment for it to open again. "Thank you." Bella managed, but her voice choked.

"Are you okay?" Christy asked gently.

"We should," Bella pointed at the road when her voice faded out on her again. Christy watched her a moment more, to see that Bella just couldn't talk at the moment. Christy nodded and pulled out onto the road again.

It was Bella that reached out and took her hand to hold in silence. "I don't know how anyone could have ever thought you were a monster." She whispered.

"Be careful Bella, you know I'm not perfect." Christy spoke quietly. "I can be a monster if I need to be."

"No, you can ACT like a monster, but I don't think you can actually be one. Not when you only do it to protect people." Bella told her firmly and quietly and Christy found she had no response she could think of to that. "Have you ever hurt someone just because you can?" Bella asked her.

"No." Christy shook her head slowly.

"Then I don't think you're a monster at all."

The last few miles before they had to just park the truck were driven in silence. "Thank you." Christy finally whispered as she parked the truck. As she got out of the truck to walk around to Bella, she whispered too quietly for Bella to hear. "I hope you always feel that way, but you haven't seen the worst of me yet."

Bella felt more comfortable doing the run on piggy back and so Christy held her legs up gently as she ran as smoothly as she could through the woods. She could hear and smell the Denali's just before the group joined them. "Where are Leah and Seth?"

"They went ahead." Irina said tensely. Christy started to move a little faster after hearing that.

"You okay back there?" She asked Bella even as they smelled the border approaching, the smell of dog emanating from the other side.

"I'll be happy when we stop, but I'm okay."

The clearing held several wolves, and only two were hers, but Christy took notice that her wolves were still on their side facing the other, and staring at the black wolf that was likely Sam.

Once Christy slowly, to approach at a human pace the Denali's did as well. Christy stopped and lowered Bella to the ground, holding her a little longer while Bella got used to standing on her own again, but her eyes stayed on the wolves staring matches.

"Hello Christy." Harry spoke up and Christy looked passed the wolves to see a few older men that had to be the elders had also come.

Leaving Bella with Kate, and giving both a meaningful look hoping they'd stick together, Christy walked forward toward the border. "Hello Harry, Gentleman." She nodded to them and then brought her eyes back to the wolves, As she moved up next to Leah she spoke just a bit softer, gentler, "Are you okay Leah?" One of the wolves on the other side let out a sound that was hard to interpret, but Christy got the idea he wasn't happy.

Leah just moved a little, bumping her shoulder up against Christy, but didn't stop staring at Sam. It felt like a war was being waged in their eyes and Christy didn't want to distract Leah too badly, even though she had no idea what was happening. She looked over at the other wolf on her side. "Seth?"

"I don't think they'll talk just yet." A voice from the other side spoke up and Christy looked up to see Jacob Black coming out of the woods wearing just a pair of shorts. She smiled at him and was a bit surprised to get a returned smile. "They want to form their own pack, I didn't think that was possible."

Christy glanced at her wolves again and then up at him and the elders, most of which had slight frowns on their faces as they looked at her, and Harry was watching his daughter stand up to Sam intently.

"You're a cold one. I can't believe that we went to the movies, and I had lunch with you and never knew it." Jacob spoke up, and glanced around at the other wolves in the clearing. "That's Embry." He pointed at a wolf that seemed to give her a polite nod.

"If I were obvious I wouldn't be able to hang out with humans." Christy smirked, but then looked back at the elders. "Okay, I'll admit I'm unsure about protocol on this one." She glanced back at the Denali's and Bella and then back at Jacob. "I don't want to interrupt Leah if she's arguing, but we have a lot of reasons to be here today. Who do I negotiate with?"

"That will be the elders and Sam." Jacob nodded toward the black wolf. "Since he was busy he had me shift to say hello though. He's trying to convince them they need to be a part of this pack."

"The Clearwaters are always welcome on my land." She spoke firmly. "Why is he trying so hard, I don't like this. Is he trying to force her to do something?" Her eyes turned to glare at Sam. "His pack is a good thing for many people, I don't doubt that, but if Leah wants to go without it, she should be allowed."

"We can't have two packs." Harry spoke up and moved forward, in spite of the other Elders protest at him getting closer. "Just like Wolves don't share territory with other packs."

"These boys weren't raised wolves, they should know how to share." She glanced around at the wolves again. "And Leah has many good reasons to not want to join this pack. Have they even considered what living in so many men's heads might do to her? Or that her imprint is not welcome on your land?" She glanced back at the Denali's. "Harry, these are the Denali coven." It was rude to leave them unintroduced and yet the situation with Leah made it hard to do. "We are going to move ahead and if Sam is too stubborn to back off he won't be a part of this negotiation."

"That is hardly fair, you are stealing our wolves. You and these other vampires." Billy Black called out from where he was sitting. His wheelchair wasn't going to move here, so someone had to have carried him in and would carry him out.

"I did not steal anyone, I just offered myself as an option when the regular option proved to be too hard. They are still people Billy, and as such have the right to make some of their own decisions. I am willing to take them home with me if you can't respect a woman when she says 'no'." It was a cold comment and Leah flinched a little at the words, but just a moment later all the wolves seemed to recoil. It was calculated, and hopefully Leah would forgive her, but it was going to teach the boys a lesson. Christy continued, "And as for Irina, she was imprinted on. Shocking I know, but given the hell imprinting had given Leah before when her boyfriend imprinted on her cousin, imprinting owed her and it delivered." Everyone went quiet, even Bella who had been asking Kate a quiet question, as they watched the wolves all turn to stare at Leah and then Sam. Sam lowered his eyes and Leah seemed to smile at her, before her and Seth moved toward the woods, and Sam went in the opposite direction. All but two wolves went off into the woods. The two that stayed wolves stayed with the elders, though Harry didn't walk back to them, he stood on the edge of the border.

"You are always welcome on my land Harry." Christy spoke softly to him, pulling his eyes off of the woods his kids had gone into and back onto her. "Your family is under my protection."

"Of course we are." Leah came out from the woods, her voice confident and strong. "You're our Alpha."

That surprised Christy and she turned to see Leah smiling at her. "What?"

"You are an amazing leader, and I picked my own Alpha, the one that has been with me through all of this, the one that gave the shirt off her back to me without even thinking about it. That wasn't just a shirt Christy, it was a symbol of how you treat my family and me, you give the 'shirt off your back' constantly." Leah stood to her right, a little stiffly and leaned forward to hug her father, before returning to her side. Looking over at the boys coming back and how Jacob took Sam's right side Christy realized that her second in charge of the pack had taken her position.

"Hey dad." Seth smiled easily and then slipped over to Christy's left side.

Christy shared a surprised look with Harry, but then she nodded to him, to reassure him she'd take care of her wolves. "I guess it's time for introductions and why I wanted this meeting." She looked around at the other elders, who had shocked looks on their faces, and then at Sam who gave her a short nod. He'd let the Clearwaters go, they didn't fight their way free, they talked their way out. Christy could tell by how he acted and also how it wasn't violent and tense, the way the book had it when Jacob escaped the pack.

"I'd like to introduce the Denali coven," Christy waved a hand in their direction. "Their leader Tanya." She nodded toward Tanya and shared a look with her, asking if she was supposed to introduce them all or if Tanya should do it. Tanya stepped forward. She introduced everyone, and then continued, "And of course you've met Leah and Seth. They are members of our family now."

Christy smiled a little and motioned toward Bella. "And some of you might have met Bella Swan, she's under my protection as well." Bella blushed a little but nodded hello. Christy looked around at the group on her side of the border and shared a look with Bella. Bella had been all she had just a day ago, and now she had two wolves, and through them and Irina, a coven of sorts, cousins of her own she decided, because she was still her own coven, the oddest one in existence, with two wolves, a human, and a vampire. She had a coven of her own, but she was tied to the Denali's now.

…..

A week after the meeting with the pack and the elders, Christy's life in this world had completely changed. The Pack worked with her, communicating how patrols went and they patrolled every night. They were a little reluctant to go over the border, but they were well aware that if they needed to they could. Christy sat back in the rocker chair that was in Bella's room, and watched the human mumble something about not wanting to go shopping and she smiled. Bella had been stunned that the next 'challenge' Christy gave her involved shopping. They had the Denali coven helping out and it was nice to have electricity, cars, and money. Christy was taking Tanya and Bella out to shop for some clothes and makeup, but it wasn't a typical trip. Christy was going to show both women how to use makeup and clothes, along with attitude, to change their ages when their bodies hadn't changed. It was a break from training, and patrolling, but also Christy wasn't giving up her plans to train Bella up for her being able to make up her mind about being changed.

Bella was going to go from 18 to 28, and she'd do it in one afternoon. Actually Bella hoped she could pull a range like that. Christy was going to help her try, because if she could range that far she could live, as a vampire, in one place for much longer than the Cullens did. It would take much more makeup to hit 38 or 48, but Christy might show her how that could be done as well.

Bella was working on determining a good age to be turned, if she wanted to be, and Christy wanted her to see a little what being a full adult might feel like. She also wanted to get Bella trying a more assertive attitude, because she needed to learn to stand up for herself.

Christy sighed and leaned back in chair. They'd reached Spring Break, today was the last day of school, and Christy felt a nervous energy she couldn't really get away from. Now was when Bella had risked her life and brought Alice back into it, now was when Harry died, this was the weak of hell in that book and Christy was praying to just get through it without huge complications or a death.

A rustling and the speed of footsteps drew Christy's eyes toward the window. A quick glance at the clock proved she should have been expecting the visit. Moving to open the window quietly, Christy stepped out of the way as the blonde jumped up and landed very softly on the windowsill, before stepping inside. "All well I assume?"

"Yeah, no visitors yet." Christy muttered, keeping her voice very quiet so as not to disturb Bella. She closed the window to keep the cold air out as well.

"Training is going well. The wolves are doing pretty good. I expect they'll make a lovely secret weapon." Tanya told her with a smile. "You missed it."

"Well, she needs to sleep and she feels safer with me here." Christy sighed, thinking of the way Kate called frantically hours ago, telling them that Bella was screaming in her sleep. They traded places and that stopped. "I can train during the day."

"Or you can invite her along. She doesn't have school now." Tanya pointed out and Christy studied Bella's sleeping form, wondering if seeing her in action would help or just make Bella more nervous.

"I'll ask in the morning." She offered, deciding to give it a shot. "Can you explain things so that she'll learn even if she can't do yet?"

"You're pretraining her in everything aren't you?" Christy grinned at the slight disbelief that had become a typical Tanya response to hearing about what Christy and Bella had done or would do before Bella was turned.

"I've never been a newborn, and while I'm very certain she won't be a typical one, it might be nice to hear something about that time in a young vampire's development." Christy smirked and kept her eyes on Bella.

"I've never fought in newborn wars. I'm hardly the expert." Tanya reminded her and Christy's smile faded. "You know we could use them."

"I know." Was all Christy said in response. She shut down discussion with her tone and they stood in silence for a few moments.

"Were you an actor in that last world? How do you know about makeup and acting like you do?" Tanya spoke finally and thankfully wasn't pressing the occasional argument.

"I was a spy, and impersonated people. I also worked with other spies. You pick up quite a lot when you have to learn to be anyone." Christy admitted, and she could feel the eyes on her. "I was an assassin, a political assassin at times. I come by my ability to fight honestly, I learned it in wartime."

"A warrior. That makes a lot of sense." Was all she got in response for that. "Some people turned warriors on purpose, because they learn to fight so quickly. We shouldn't have too much trouble training you."

"I just need some practice to get used to and find my limits in this body. After that I'll be fine."

It seemed like it was just a check up to see how the guard duty was going, but Tanya sat down in front of the window, on the floor to face Christy, so it was turning into a visit.

They talked innocently about the new type of shopping trip they would be doing, and they talked about Bella's truck and how they were NOT going to replace that even if it was slow. It had sentimental value and Christy knew it. They talked about the new construction Tanya was planning for her place in Denali, and Christy glanced at Bella when she did that. Tanya and Christy's covens were tied together now, through Leah and Irina, and Bella was aware of it as well. Bella had already said that if the Alaska school came through it was going to be her first choice, and she'd applied to another school in Alaska as well. The girl had no problem accepting such a huge change and doing it because Christy needed to do it for Leah.

There was so much adjusting and negotiating left to be done as they blended their covens, and yet the issues with Victoria came first and they rarely talked about it. Christy didn't see that they had to live together, they could live nearby and still be a full coven, which was why Christy was thinking the school in Anchorage would work out well.

Tanya proved a bit intuitive when she spoke up. "The cities in Alaska aren't very large in comparison. You might need to travel more often to feed. If her luck proves to remain as bad as it is now, you might want to live closer to us."

"Or we could find a new home that is close to the wilderness and has promising cities nearby." Christy mentioned and with a hint of irritation pointed out something, "How long have you been in Alaska anyhow? Isn't it time to move on?"

"If she's changed, you'll find Alaska is perfect for training a newborn, especially one with my diet."

Christy knew Tanya was right, she just didn't like it. It meant that Bella couldn't say no to becoming a vampire, if they tied together that much, if they became essentially one coven, Bella had to give up being human. "I like being in charge." Christy offered a smaller irritation up as her reason, because Tanya had no idea Christy had given Bella a choice on this.

"I don't tend to dictate often. I could promise to negotiate as if we're still two covens."

"Leah and Irina don't realize what a headache they're causing us, do they?" Christy asked with a sigh and Tanya smiled at her softly.

"I don't believe they look away from each other long enough to see our little discussions." The blonde smiled somewhat fondly at Christy and Christy just rolled her eyes and gave her a hint of a smile back.

"Don't pressure Bella to turn soon. If she wants to be a thirty year old vampire, I'm letting her wait." Christy spoke more firmly. Tanya had said something once or twice. "She could have a better career if she's older."

"And she'd feel odd about going back to Edward, since he looks seventeen." Tanya teased her with an eyebrow raised. "Actually he looks more like sixteen, I think he must have just turned seventeen before changing."

"That bastard isn't going to stay away twelve years." Christy grimaced and looked at Bella's sleeping form again. "I'd bet, even if we can keep the family from calling him once they realize we have problems here, we'll still see him in this next year. He might come to just 'check on her', but once he sees she's surrounded by vampires and shifters he'll come out of the shadows to complain."

"Once she finishes high school, she could move. It would make her harder to find." Tanya offered. "Especially if she lies to her family about what school she's attending, so he can't get it from them."

"You'd help me hide her?" Christy asked, her attention fully on Tanya.

Tanya's answer made her feel much better about the female and her coven. "If that's what Bella wants." Tanya looked at Bella. "Have her apply to Canadian schools; I could help you make a list of some that are in areas that might work well for this."

"She can't get financial aid for Canada."

"If we're blending our covens and hiding from Edward, I think she will need to learn to take some of our money." Christy smiled, because that was an argument that Bella was going to have trouble having, but she'd want to have it.

"You do know she may very likely want to go to college as a human, that we could really be looking at twelve years living with a human as she establishes a career."

"Twelve might be a bit much, but somehow I don't think she'll wait that long." Tanya gave Christy a mysterious smile. "I'm thinking she won't go longer than six."

Hours later they were in the store and Bella was holding her own rather well, Christy thought. "This isn't me." Bella said looking at the outfit Tanya held up for her. "Even in ten years." The human added after a moment. Christy just smiled at Tanya and her failed effort to get Bella in a dress.

"Business or casual." Christy asked Bella while looking further into the store. Tanya had paused just five feet in the door. A soft gasp further into the store had Christy glancing up to see one of the salespeople staring with wide eyes at her and Tanya.

"Men are so easy." Tanya muttered very quietly and Christy just nodded and followed Bella toward the business section, a little surprised at the girl.

"Probably easier to look older." Bella explained quietly.

"Let's get both and try to keep the age up with them." Christy told her. "Aim for thirty." They'd spent time sitting outside at a coffee shop watching women walk around and noticing what they wore. Bella and Tanya had to get a grasp of their goals and what women of those ages were like. It was a simple exercise and Tanya proved to have done something similar before, so they both talked Bella through what she should be noticing.

They found something in a nice blue pant suite for Bella and the trimmings. Tanya scolded the human three times for paying too much attention to the price tags. They left that store with the first outfit for both of them, business oriented, but the casual look wasn't really coming together at that store.

"That's it?" Bella asked, looking back at that store with a puzzled look on her face.

"We weren't going to find anything else. No point staying." Christy muttered and could hear Tanya chuckling at them. Christy was not missing that Bella still expected shopping trips with vampires to be hell, and Tanya had caught that as well.

"We all develop hobbies, and shopping isn't one of mine." Tanya smiled and Bella just nodded her understanding. "And I believe if Christy has a mission in mind, she doesn't waste time."

"No, she doesn't." Bella smiled just a little at that comment.

"If this is about to descend into a 'pick on Christy' moment, can we select our next store first?" Christy joked while glancing around the streets to see what direction they could go.

"I think we can safely do both at once." Tanya said with a smile. "Let's just go this way and see if something is here."

"Okay." Christy shrugged and they moved to walk along the mall to see about another store. The smells of the mall were strong, but Christy ignored it.

They'd stepped into the next store, before the scent hit them and Christy and Tanya both tensed up and moved just a step or two in front of Bella. Christy could feel Bella's hand moving to rest on her back.

"Do you think this will make my butt look big?" A man said, holding a skirt up and smirking at them. His red eyes were easy to spot, he'd eaten recently. Christy just blinked at him in shock for a moment, and in that moment a woman with short blonde hair moved up behind him and took the skirt from his hands.

"Mine." She said with a small smile and then looked over at them. "You must be who Peter said we were waiting for."

"Peter?" Christy repeated and her eyes moved back to him. She slowly started to smile. "Good to meet you Peter." And the second wave of Calvary has arrived.

"Bella," She turned to the human who was nervously watching this. "They eat like I do."

"Do you have that same annoying power he does?" Peter's wife asked and Christy chuckled.

"Not quite." She held a hand out. "I'm Christy Taylor," She indicated Tanya, "Tanya Denali and my human is Bella." She spoke softly so only those right there with them would hear.

Charlotte, as Christy knew who that was gave Christy a wide eyed stare and a pointed look toward Bella, as if disbelieving she'd said that in front of her.

"Currently human." Tanya filled in quickly. "Bella will be joining the family."

"As you know this is Peter, and I'm Charlotte." The short haired blonde woman spoke up, putting that skirt back on the rack.

"We should really talk." Peter added and Christy glanced at Bella.

"Sure." She turned to a confused looking Bella. "You hungry?"

"I'm not going to sit there and eat in front of four vampires watching me." Bella muttered a bit of irritation in her voice and Christy just shook her head.

"Don't mind her, she has performance anxiety." Christy teased Bella a little and got a weak glare in return.

"We could cut the shopping short and head back to the house." Tanya offered, sounding in control and all of the coven leader she was. Christy nodded, because that sounded perfect.

"We drove, we can follow or just meet you there." Peter said with a smile. "Cullen's house, right?"

"You know it." Christy muttered and wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulder as they walked, just to reassure the girl.

"You'll fill Bella in on who I am on the way." Peter spoke as if he was just admitting he knew she could do it. "Make sure to call your guard dogs, or it'll be an exciting visit." He smiled and waved, before moving toward a car parked across the street.

"Peter has the power of 'knowing', a little like precognition." Christy said as they started to walk toward their own car, three blocks away. She turned a little more to take Tanya up with her look as well. "If we have Peter, it would really help. He and Charlotte are experienced in fighting newborns and his power will make up for us not having Alice."

"Really quite lucky he decided to visit us then, isn't it?" Tanya sounded a little suspicious, but Christy just smiled, thinking luck had everything to do with it. Annie's power was buying her Cullen free time.

"I'll call the Pack and Leah." Christy said as they continued walking. "I really want to keep these new allies."

"You're sure that's what they are?" Tanya asked firmly.

"Positive." Christy smiled happily.

They got back to the house after Peter did, and Christy could see a meeting starting in the front yard as the Denali's and Christy's wolves stood there watching the two new vampires a little tensely. They appeared to be waiting for the coven leaders, who were both in the car, and Christy grimaced and got out along with Tanya, but she held the door opened so Bella could join them, holding a hand out for Bella to steady herself with when Bella stepped onto a rock accidently. Bella didn't turn out to need it, and Christy smiled at her a little when they both realized the tai chi was helping.

"We need to take care of this before the Volturi get involved." Peter said with more seriousness than Christy had thought he possessed, based on their introduction. "They do that and we're looking at a lot of dead vampires."

"And you care because?" Tanya asked while crossing her arms in front of her, looking a bit intimidating. Christy raised her own eyebrow as if to say, please answer that one.

"I don't know you all, but Jasper is involved and they broke the law. I'd prefer to keep him alive." Peter said with a dark tone. "Names Peter Whitlock, and Jasper is as good as a brother to me. I'm not gonna let this mess turn into a pyre."

"I believe him." Christy muttered as she walked up to stand beside Tanya.

"So do I." she replied and glanced at the others. "We also would like to keep the Cullens from paying for this crime, especially since Christy has resolved it. Bella will be turned." Once again Tanya insisted that was going to happen and Christy glanced over at Bella to see how she was taking that. It didn't seem to bother her at all, if that hint of a smile meant anything. Perhaps a decision was on the way.

"What law?" Leah asked and Christy looked over at her with a bit of apprehension.

"There is a very powerful coven, with vampires with strong gifts and they police things so that humans never learn of vampires." Christy spoke gently, trying to make this okay, because it had the potential to become a huge issue. "The minute Jacob told Bella your legends, the minute Bella let Edward know she knew, they should have killed her. Instead they let her in on everything, and then they left her alone. They left her, just trusting she'd never tell." Christy took a deep breath and glanced at a pale Bella. "I believe that's a death penalty for everyone involved, human and vampire, and they have the power to enforce that. My changing Bella will likely protect all of us here, but they'd pressure it to be now and I don't want her to lose everything she might want in her life. I want her to be able to keep her parents, have a career, have everything I can make sure she can still have."

"But the Cullens left me human." Bella whispered, but everyone here had amazing hearing. "Your changing that won't make that fact go away, will it?"

"If you weren't still human it might be forgiven, it would take a lot of work for Carlisle to pull that off, but we can't afford to draw attention until you are." Christy added to the girl. "And I will not change you out of fear. We have a plan and I want all of that for you. We're doing it all different, we're changing the rules, and if the Volturi get involved they may not give us the choice. You're death could be faked before they even make the demand."

"How is it that we didn't know any of this?" Leah asked her eyes wide.

"Because we couldn't be sure the Pack wouldn't demand it not happen out of principle, and I don't want to kill her." Christy let her pain at that thought show in her face. "I don't want her to live her life in fear of being found. I'm giving her an option out of that."

"Option is the key word here darlin'. You weren't ever going to tell any of the vamps here that it was just an option for your girl, were you?" Christy took a step closer to Bella, stood just in front of her and glared at Peter.

"Option?" Tanya's voice spoke up and Christy grimaced.

"I was willing to risk my own life on her decision, not all of yours. I can hide better, my powers protect my mind." Christy admitted and Bella took her hand and held it tightly.

"But I," Bella started to speak up.

"No, you don't make a decision based on fear." Christy growled, determined to protect Bella's rights on this.

"It isn't." Bella spoke softly, her other hand caressing Christy's arm, trying to calm her, Christy could tell. "I want this. You'll stay with me, you'll make sure I learn everything I need to know. I want this, I just don't know when I want it."

"You were ready to take on all of us with a human holding your hand." Peter chuckled. "It's okay for her to make up her mind, I'm betting it's been made up for a while. Your puppies still protected that secret." Bella's grip tightened and Christy glanced at her to see the worry in her eyes as she took in all the vampires and then Christy, realizing how this could have gone.

"And we can keep protecting it." Leah turned to her brother. "We can't think about it at all when we're shifted, and we can't talk about it. Not while we live in Forks."

"It wouldn't hurt to move as soon as Bella graduated either." Irina spoke up and glanced at Seth. "If we're able to take you, we can set you up at a school somewhere else."

"I don't really want to separate them from their family either." Christy spoke softly, based on the idea that their mother would be alone soon.

"We'll have to work that one out later." Tanya spoke up, a hint of irritation in her voice but the look Christy was getting made it clear to her it was about not telling the Denali's that Bella had a choice to stay human or not.

Christy looked across the lawn to see Leah staring right at her a slight frown on her face. They hadn't talked about the future and how it impacted their family yet. Seth seemed a bit more serious as well. "Later, we'll talk." Christy mouthed to them and they both nodded.

"So about this redhaired bitch. We don't wait until she has all of her bloody army." Peter smiled just a little at his own words. "We can't go right after her, her gift would catch that."

"We need to make her irrational." Christy added and they all, everyone on the lawn, moved a few steps closer into a circle of planning.

"What if she thought I was going to be turned before she had her army?" Bella asked quietly. "If she didn't have much time to act before I wasn't so fragile?" Christy smiled at the girl with a little pride, because Bella was coming up with decent plans.

"I like it." Christy offered to the group, her smile a little obvious. Bella had offered a solution, when there were eight vampires that could have done it. She'd stood up for herself and believed in herself enough to try to offer one up.

"We could work with that one darlin'." Peter said and looked up at the house again. "But to make her really steam she might need to believe that you're getting back with Mr. Broody."

"You mean, Edward?" Bella's voice dropped a little on his name, but she said it. "But that isn't happening. We don't want them to come."

"And that is why I'm here. You needed the little psychic at a bare minimum, but you weren't going to call her and she can't see you need help with the puppies you all adopted."

"So how do we fake Edward?" Kate asked.

"Would anyone believe you all heard he had screwed up big time and came to fix it and give him his vampire bride?" Christy asked a bit hesitantly, worried this talk would upset Bella, but Bella just bit her lower lip and trailed her eyes over everyone as if waiting for someone to answer Christy's question.

"A douchebag intervention?" Kate chuckled a little. "We could swing that. God knows I've wanted to stage one for him."

"Ew." Seth grimaced. "Bad visuals."

"Don't share." Leah told him without looking at him.

"We don't want her to know about the wolves, and we want to get the word to her. I'm thinking it's a red eye mission." Christy glanced at the other two red eyed vampires with her. "We'll blend better with them, but we'd have to play it off like gossip."

"Your scent is all over the girl and probably her house. You need to sit out of this one." Peter said and gave Christy a wink that was hard to misinterpret.

"She wouldn't need to get very close to realize you had set her up." Charlotte added. "Your scent really is all over her, and you smell of her."

"What?" Bella blushed a bright red.

"From staying in your room at night." Christy offered quietly. She didn't add that sometimes Bella needed her to lay on the bed with her, Bella was aware of that, and apparently so was Peter.

They went into the house to work on more details and decided to try and focus on training, or at least evaluating everyone's skill before sending Peter and Charlotte into Seattle.

After that, the issue of rooms came up and yet another couple, an established couple was in the house. They were given a bedroom and Tanya joined Christy and Kate as a vampire without a private space. Between those that slept, Leah and Seth, and the couples, of which there were two vampire couples and Irina and Leah, they took over all the bedrooms. The rest of them all tended to gravitate to offices, garages, or kitchens for private time.

Christy was relieved when Tanya left Bella and her alone to play with makeup and her new outfit for a while. Even more relieved when the coven leader returned looking and seeming calmer from the revelation in the yard. "Don't hide things that affect our covens again." Was all that was said and Christy nodded. She understood why Tanya had been upset. "Why the pale lipstick?"

"Because she's aiming for thirty and not about to go into a nightclub." Christy answered with a small smile and finished applying Bella's makeup for her. The girl was going to have to learn to do her own at some point, but right now they were going for what the end effect was.

Bella looked a bit shocked to see the adult female in the mirror, and Christy smiled and patted her shoulder gently. "I could take you up another ten years easily too, and after that the makeup will become stage makeup."

"We could really do this." Bella spoke very softly, staring at her reflection. "I could be a vampire and my parents would never know."

"You really want to do that?" Tanya asked and looked at Christy, but kept her eyes on Bella for the most part. "Controlling your thirst will be hard."

"I won't be living with them at the time, and we can avoid them until I have some control." Bella answered, "But I could be there when they need me and they wouldn't have to think I died."

"I've never heard of anyone staying in contact."

"Well, that's because Christy's never turned anyone before." Bella smiled at her. "Christy makes a lot of impossible things possible." The clear adoration in Bella's expression made Christy a little uncomfortable. It looked like Bella was thinking she was 'perfect' again, and Christy was far from that.

Christy felt like she might be blushing if she were still able.


	9. Chapter 9

"So you think you're a warrior." Peter stood in the middle of the clearing and smirked at Christy. The others had gone through some sparing in pairs, but he'd saved her for himself and now it was time. Christy could hear a few faster heartbeats and looked to the side to see Leah, Seth and Bella watching with a slight hint of dread on their faces and she gave them a reassuring smile, before turning back to the blowhard trying to act like she wasn't experienced. With the schedule they'd been keeping no one had seen her fight yet, but Tanya, who seemed a bit amused at the moment.

"I've dabbled." Christy smirked at that and could hear Tanya chuckle.

"Well, bring it Lucy Lawless." He beckoned her forward with that quip.

"I thought it was more of a Buffy moment." Christy said while stepping closer to him.

"Joking aside, I'm going for your human and if I get to her it's game over, you lost." He said and then started to run. Christy's eyes hardened and she was in motion not a fraction of a second later, moving to intercept. Bella was supposed to just be an observer, not part of this and she didn't want any fighting happening within twenty feet of her.

It was a sparring match, but other than refraining from ripping his head off, she wasn't going to hold back at all. Christy growled as she blocked him punch and delivered a strong sidekick to his chest, knocking him back into the trees on the other side of the clearing. She moved fast to follow and his arm was in her own a moment later as he stared at it from ten feet away. "No vampire rushes Bella." She glared at him, still hearing Bella's heart rate skyrocketing. "Even if you don't mean it, you don't scare her."

"Got it Xena. Can I have my arm back." He asked and Charlotte approached Christy slowly, her hands held out for it. Christy handed the arm over with a small apology to his wife.

"Don't worry, I'm mighty fine with my tongue too, Charlotte won't suffer tonight for your little amputation move."

"Keep baiting her and she might take other parts of you I enjoy. Try to be quiet until Bella calms dear, or she might teach us all some anatomy we don't want to know." Charlotte was carefully lining up the disconnected appendage and using her jacket as a sling to hold it in place for him to reconnect it. "You need to hunt now, great idea taunting her."

"Wow, and she used that on Laurent? That bastard never had a chance." Kate spoke up and Christy was surprised to hear Irina chuckle a little at that, but she ignored them to go see if she could help Bella calm down.

"You 'dabbled?" Leah asked as she got closer to her own smaller coven within a coven.

"I was what you might consider the equivalent of special ops, more intense than a Marine." Christy said even as Bella was wrapped up in her arms.

"And I find that she fights different enough that she's hard to counter." Tanya smirked, clearly happy to have Peter's confidence crushed. He'd been a little arrogant with the others tonight. "She says she knows several fighting styles and most vampires only know speed and strength."

"I was worried he was right and he'd have you down." Bella whispered to her and it was touching to hear the concern. "I didn't want to be your weakness."

"I'm never stronger than when I'm fighting for someone I care about." Christy whispered into Bella's ear. "You'll never be a weakness to me."

The way Bella pulled back a little and stared at Christy's lips was a little bit of a surprise, but the girl didn't kiss her. It was clear to Christy it was considered though. Maybe Bella was getting over Edward much faster this time around. "thank you." Bella whispered.

"Oh my god, I could choke on all the romance in the air." Peter muttered and Christy glared at him over Bella's head, glad that even though only everyone else had heard it, Bella hadn't.

"Come on buzz kill, let's go find you a nice drug dealer." Charlotte dragged him away.

Christy noticed that Tanya and Kate weren't taking their eyes off of them, until others bumped them and dragged them away.

"So, bedtime for the insomniac." Christy smiled at Bella and moved to pick her up. They had to run back to Bella's house for her to get some sleep.

It didn't take long for Bella to get ready for bed. "Christy?" Bella's voice spoke up from the bed and Christy looked up from the Harry Potter book she was reading to see the human staring at her. "I think I might want to go to college."

"I liked college." She smiled at Bella. "Finally studying something you want to, it's nice."

"No, I mean I don't want to be changed before college. " Bella spoke softly, whispering it like a secret between them.

"That's not a problem." She paused and studied Bella. "Are you sure you want to be changed? I mean, we haven't really finished the lessons. Maybe you should keep an opened mind."

"Do you not want me changed?" Bella's eyes seemed to water and Christy was a little surprised at the sudden vulnerability in her.

"No, that's not it at all. I just want to make sure you don't feel like you've made a mistake. Regardless of what we told the others, if you decide to be human I'll fight for your right to be that." She could see she needed to say more. "But I'd like to change you. It just isn't about me though, it is about you."

"What if it was about you?" Bella asked, confusing Christy. "What if you got to pick everything, from my changing to what our lives were like? What would you do?"

"I don't want to influence you." Bella's eyes hardened and Christy abandoned those words. "But I'd like to see you finish college for the first time without having to worry about the sun and days you can't go because of it. I might like to do college again myself, maybe pick a major that I can work with in this new world. I might like to become a writer, to see if I can see across the realities into worlds myself, since I've followed other writers into new worlds twice now." She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the arms of the chair and settled the Harry Potter book into her lap.

Bella seemed to relax, resting on her side and staring at her. "And changing me?"

"I'd take you out for the best meal you could ever find, and I'd let you try every good fruity alcoholic drink I could get you to try." Christy grinned, thinking of the fun it could be. "I'd give you any last experiences you might want as a human as if we were celebrating a new era in your life, not like we were preparing for the end of your opportunities. You'll have new opportunities, new experiences that you can't have now waiting for you." Christy could see a small smile growing on Bella's face. "We'd do that all through college and for a little while after you graduate. Once you felt like you were ready, and you'd done it all, we'd find a large wilderness and rent or buy a cabin. I'd say rent, but if Tanya is bankrolling this we could do better." She teased.

"And after I'm a vampire?"

"We'd work on control, learning what you need to, but honestly I think you'll be the fastest newborn in the world at learning all of it. You'll be so ready, having lived around it so long before you change and you have something in you that just will take to this life." Christy admitted. "I read about you as a newborn, and you were apparently incredibly well adjusted. The horror stories about those years the others might tell you, they don't all apply to you."

"So in that book, Edward changed me, even after everything he said?"

Christy grimaced. "He didn't have a choice. You were dying."

"But I'd asked before then, didn't I and only because I was dying did he do it?" Bella looked upset, but then her expression moved toward anger. "My decisions don't mean much to him."

"I don't know that I should criticize." Christy said and sighed. She didn't want to have Bella turn on her if she said the wrong thing.

"Nevermind him, for us, what would our lives look like after I was turned if it was all up to you?"

"I'd be a writer, something I can do from anywhere and I could miss work at any time." Christy studied Bella's face. "And you'd have a hobby or a career that interested you. We'd live with the Denalis for several years, perhaps leaving once in a while to see the world. I've seen it, but I'd like to see it with you."

Bella blushed and stared for a moment. "Do you want that really? I mean, now that we have a whole coven to help out, do you really want to be 'responsible' for me?"

"You're my human." Christy managed the feel awkward as she said it. "I hadn't even thought about,"

"trading up?"

"No, giving that up." Christy listened to make sure no one was nearby to hear them. "You accepted me when I had people I'd known for years that didn't. You aren't trying to change me. I can't even imagine there is a way to 'trade up' Bella. Don't think so little of yourself. Before anyone was changed, in any way, they were not amazing, perfect, people. You're comparing yourself in the wrong way if you aren't seeing that you are equal to or greater than anyone you meet."

"I have no idea how you are still single." Bella muttered after a brief disbelieving look being aimed at Christy. "No idea at all."

Chuckling Christy shook her head. "Thanks,"

"No, really, you're so considerate, and almost," Bella blushed, "romantic all the time." That gave Christy pause, as she considered that. She hadn't noticed she was doing that with Bella, but she could see she had been.

"It doesn't bother you, does it?" Christy asked a bit concerned, but Bella's expression said it didn't and Christy was a little silly to think it would.

"No, no, not bothered." Bella said and then went quiet for a while. Christy thought perhaps Bella was ready to try and fall asleep, but she opened her mouth to speak again. "Do you want to read, or maybe you could read from the bed?"

"Worried about a nightmare?" Christy asked, while moving to get into the bed. She took the side near the wall, because there was just enough room to roll off the bed and in between it and the wall if she had to hide fast. She'd prefer to be in the front for protection, but that also made Bella more reluctant to ask to get up if she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

"Victoria won't be a fighter like you, will she?" Bella asked.

"No, she won't." Christy told her, but once she was in the bed, Bella cuddled up to her.

"Don't get hurt. If she gets lucky."

"Luck is going to be with me Bella, not her." Christy told her, thinking about Annie as she said that.

"Just don' t get hurt." Bella muttered into Christy's shirt, before going quiet.

"Sure."

"Tomorrow, you should apply to the colleges I did." Bella added and Christy smiled at the hint of a command in her voice.

"I can't, I don't have an identity yet."

"Ask Tanya to get you one. We can pay her back later. I want to start college with you. I can major in Literature and you can do Creative Writing." Bella said, while her hand gripped Christy's arm as Bella got comfortable for sleep. Christy smiled at the human resting partly over her as Bella's breathing evened out and she fell asleep.

…..

It was supposed to happen during spring break, Christy knew that, but Harry managed to last a few more weeks before he was rushed to the hospital. This time he made it in time. "I'm still here." Harry said with a hint of a smile and Christy just stood at the edge of his bed staring at him. He looked pale and tired, and she could smell blood and the various other scents a hospital filled with. "That was supposed to kill me, wasn't it?"

"I think so." Christy spoke softly to him. She'd waited until his family had left before slipping in to see him. Harry had another close call, but this time the doctors were doing more than medication for him. "I," Her words trailed off. "I don't want to watch you go." She admitted with some pain in her voice.

"I'm not going now." He told her with more confidence than she'd expect. "But even if I do, if this doesn't work, thank you."

"I could change you." She offered, but she knew he'd say no again, and honestly with his heart already weak it was possible he wouldn't survive the change.

"No, no, I'll be fine." He smiled at her. "I can't believe I can actually say I've been offered immortality, like that, and I'm okay with that."

"It seems rude not to offer." Christy managed a teasing smile.

"Yes, terribly rude, but I'm good." He told her and then his hint of a smile faded. "You'll watch out for my kids."

"Forever."

"Yes, forever, good." He nodded and she could see some tears in his eyes that she pretended not to see.

"Tanya said she'd be honored to cover your hospital costs, so you don't have to rush back to work after this to pay it off." Christy told him, but she left out the part where Tanya said his widow would have far more to worry about if it didn't work and didn't need money added to that. "Don't let your pride answer for you. I'm sucking up my pride left and right with that woman, you should have to as well."

He chuckled at that, "Well, I guess I could say yes."

"Good, I was going to tell her you said yes regardless." Christy gave him a small touch, a gentle squeeze of the hand. "I'll come visit you, but once you've had the procedure I don't want to visit until you've started healing a bit."

"Right, good idea." He studied her eyes. "This isn't an easy place for you to be, is it?"

"No, not really, but I'm not dangerous unless I want to be."

"Okay, you visit when you can." And that showed so much trust it was amazing. Christy just nodded, because even unable to shed tears, her throat was tight with something other than hunger.

Christy left shortly after she arrived, because there wasn't much to say and she didn't want to keep him awake. He needed his strength. She also didn't mention the plan to draw Victoria out soon, in the next week or two, because he didn't need his heart trying to race right now. Christy did worry more about Leah and Seth on the battlefield though, because it was bad enough for the first time, but to be distracted by the fact their father was in the hospital, that was too much.

As Christy got out of the hospital she glanced around for Bella's truck. They'd let her out before parking. She did notice that Leah, Seth and their mother had left. It was more important they be a family today than part of Christy's coven and she just told her wolves that if they needed her she'd be there. They could call for anything.

Bella's truck wasn't hard to find, it had a smell all of its own. Christy expected it was burning oil too much and needed to be fixed. She started toward it and could see Tanya talking, her expression serious and Bella's blush, but once she noticed that, Tanya stopped talking and gave Christy a hint of a smile before telling Bella that she could start up the truck. That's when Bella noticed Christy as well, and the small sympathetic smile was touching. Christy liked Harry, and she wanted him to live, not just for his family, but because she felt like he was a friend. The truck was started and the lights on even as Christy got to the side of it.

When Christy got to the truck she gave Bella a small smile and looked back at Tanya, who'd stayed with Bella when Bella insisted she would drive Christy here. They didn't leave Bella alone, but Harry was Christy's friend and it didn't quite fit to take her in either. "He's optimistic." She said as she slipped into the truck. "That's got to count for something."

"Good, did he take the money?" Tanya asked and Bella seemed a little tense.

"He did. I'm glad his pride didn't become an issue. Thank you for helping him." Christy said, hoping that Bella was learning something about money and helping out of this.

"He's family now." Was all Tanya said in response. "Why are we letting your human drive again?" Tanya said as Bella let another large opening go passed and didn't pull out of the parking lot.

"It's her truck." Christy explained again, but this was how Tanya teased Bella so she didn't grow irritated at it. It was friendly after all.

"I love this truck, but it doesn't go zero to sixty in even four minutes. I can't zip around." Bella explained herself with a heavy sigh.

"That's fine." Christy reassured her and glanced around. They were in a larger town, not at the Forks hospital, because Harry had his trouble while in Port Angeles. "Did you want dinner before we leave?"

"I could take her if you think you can find something for yourself." Tanya offered, staring into Christy's eyes. "You're getting a little dark. Stress does that to us." The older vampire explained. She was starting to explain things to both Christy and Bella now, because Christy was a new vampire and Bella was in training.

Christy froze for a moment and glanced over at Bella carefully. The human was paying extra attention to her driving, as if to distract herself from the conversation in the car. "Would you be okay with that? I could go out later."

"You're asking her if she's okay that you're going to kill a rapist while she has a taco or something." Tanya sighed. "Christy, that's,"

"Honest." Bella interrupted Tanya. "That's honest."

Christy smiled as she remembered something. "I asked Bella for a map the first time I met her, because I needed to know how to find a city to hunt in."

Bella chuckled at the memory. "And I was sure I had to have heard that wrong."

"If she'll be one of us, I can't really hide the daily issues from her." Christy explained her odd attitude about this. "And, given the fact that accidents happen, and that we both wonder if there will be enough wildlife to live off of in the future, well, Bella needs to understand the traditional diet even if it isn't her first choice."

Tanya went quiet at that, and Christy could see her thinking about it. Christy quietly spoke up again, addressing Tanya. "Maybe some day you might want to hunt with me, so I can show you how to find the bad guys in case you ever need it."

"I think I'd manage if I had to find them on my own." Tanya frowned. "You're still considering changing when you think you could end up eating humans?" She asked Bella and Bella paled a little.

"It's a risk, from what I understand there aren't many vampires at all that never have ever," Her words trailed off and Christy could see nausea growing in the human.

"If you want to never, you'll have the control. It'll have to be a choice for you." Christy told the girl.

"I don't want to forget how important life is." Bella admitted quietly.

"I can show you things that will never let you forget that." Christy told her, sure of herself. "I know how important life is Bella and I can make sure you never forget."

"Where should I drop you off?" Bella asked, in leiu of giving permission to hunt verbally.

"I can leave from wherever you go to eat. I'll probably take longer than you though, I don't rush the selection."

"I'll text you if you need to run home." Tanya offered, and Christy patted her pocket to make sure the phone she'd been given, Laurent's old one, was with her. "You two are different, both of you. I approve though, it's a shame there wasn't time for my maker to train me this way. Maybe I could have avoided some of the things," Tanya's words trailed off.

Bella reached up a hand and rested it over the one Tanya was using to steady herself on the dash. Christy smiled at the concern and lack of judgment Bella had for Tanya in that moment. The look on the blonde's face was worthy of a picture, and it was a shame that would have ruined the moment.

Christy headed toward the water once they'd parked. She kept her eyes and ears focused in case she could hear something going on. It took forty minutes to find dinner and Christy was sickened when she heard the grunting and comments that drew her to that alley. The two men in the alley didn't get to pull up their pants after their rape as they stood over the date rape drugged woman. Christy took them both up the wall unconscious in a long jump. She'd heard someone coming and she waited to hear the scream and the frantic call to the ambulance before running the slime toward the water. It would have felt like justice to wake them up so they could be aware of dying, but Christy just drank quickly and put their bodies in a dumpster that she set on fire. The bodies would be found, but there was no way the cause of death would be determined.

It was a surprise that she hadn't received the text to run home by the time she was done hunting, and Christy made her way back to the truck. The text came right as she was walking up to the truck and she waved and stopped Bella from driving off.

"Done?" Was all Tanya said.

"Yes." Christy sighed heavily and leaned against the window.

"You weren't in time, were you?" Bella asked softly and Christy grimaced. "I'm sorry."

"It happens. They'll never do that again." Was all Christy could say. Tanya's hand rested on Christy's shoulder for a moment, before Christy worked to change the topic. "So how was dinner?"

"It smelled horrible, but Bella assures me it tasted good." Tanya smiled just a little, letting them move on and not dwell on Christy's dinner.

…

Christy ducked under the lunging wolf and then wrapped her arms around the furry torso, yanking Leah out of the air and giving her a little squeeze.

"You're dead." Peter said firmly to the wolf as Christy lowered her to the ground. "A newborn would only need that hold for a fraction of a second and you'd be dead." Christy let Peter scold Leah, knowing the she-wolf needed to understand this. "And if you're linked up to your brother, he could be dead as well. You'll distract him." It was harsh, but Christy had explained to Peter before the sparing that she was really worried about how that worked for the wolves, how they could become a distraction for each other as well as a help, and that Leah wanted to prove herself too badly. She didn't elaborate and explain she knew from the book that Leah could be careless in that situation, that she had almost been killed in this way in another reality.

"Christy let's try again. You're the newborn."

"Is that an age crack?" Christy teased a little, because she was by far the youngest vampire here. She moved into position though and another wolf was aimed at her. She didn't need to know how to fight wolves, but she needed to show them how to fight typical vampires. Most of her bag of tricks was being left out of these sparring sessions.

Jacob rushed her and Christy dodged his teeth, but his claws got her arm as she did that. Keeping her reactions to what Peter said a newborn would be she fought back, but Jacob managed to pin her to the ground and rest his mouth over her neck. "Got her!" Paul said with a celebratory yell from the sidelines.

"Christy, not a newborn anymore, a regular thinking vampire like Victoria." Peter gave her instructions and Christy crawled out from under the wolf and smirked at him as they sparred again. This time he was held up by his throat in a few seconds, and Christy lowered him once everyone realized that was a 'killing move'.

"As far as we know, Victoria will be the only one not a newborn, but she's got the power to avoid danger. I don't know if that means she'll dodge them like she's just dancing and have more chances to grab you while you miss." Christy offered up. "So I'm using all my focus on dodging, because I expect that's her strength." Christy moved into the audience and took the towel from Bella and grimaced as she wiped her neck to get the wolf slobber off of it. "Good work with the newborn setting Jacob," She offered to him as she set the towel down on the stump nearby.

From there they moved to Tanya, Peter, and Christy sparring with every wolf, one at a time. It was a wolf focused training session and Christy was pleased that the atmosphere was more focused and there wasn't much anger at all. The wolves, even Paul, were happy to be helping and they didn't break the sparring rules even when they made a mistake and lost. They were taking it seriously.

Christy got through her own line of wolves faster than the other two and she moved to stand by Bella. "Want to spar?" She asked the human.

"What?" Bella's eyes were wide as she stared at Christy.

"Lemme show you how to use your Tai Chi in a real fight." Christy offered and watched as a few large, furry, heads shifted to look at them. "I'm not suggesting you take on a newborn here, just that you learn to defend yourself from a typical human."

"Tai chi?" Bella asked with some disbelief.

"Not the best for offensive, but defensive, I use it." Christy muttered and watched Tanya slam Sam down on the ground and hold him there by his chest. "If you want we can add offensive fighting to your list of things to learn."

"I don't really want," Bella started.

"And has not wanting to be attacked ever been enough to keep you from being attacked Bella?" Christy asked a little coldly and Bella went quiet. "I could kill anyone that hurts you, and I will, but I'd prefer to kill people that tried to hurt you and failed."

"Okay," Bella spoke quietly. "What do we do though?"

"Um are you sure this is a good idea?" Paul asked, he was the first done with sparring, because he'd hurt his foot a bit too badly to continue early on, so he was sitting there as a human. "She's fragile and you're well, you." He didn't say anything about her being a leech, or that the blood was a bad idea, and Christy smiled just a little at him because it was amazing that he was changing his mind about them. Christy's relationship with a variety of wolves before this time must have helped.

"I'm experienced enough not to actually hurt her."

"Christy wouldn't. And she'd very gentle." Bella defended her.

Christy heard Peter mutter from the other side of the clearing. "I'll bet she is."

"Okay, just center yourself and I'll try and kidnap you." Christy said to her human, leaving out that kidnapping was the less likely scenario.

As they slowly moved through motions, even slower than human, Bella started to be able to roll away from grabs and attempts to control her and tug her into an 'invisible van' that Paul claimed he was the driver of as he sat nearby.

The sparring from behind them faded away and Christy saw Bella was startled when Jacob walked up, speaking to them, after having changed back and put shorts on. "Where did the clumsy Bella that moved here a year and a half ago go, because you're not clumsy at all."

Christy stopped 'attacking' and let Bella blush and smile. "I've been taking tai chi and Christy helps me practice just about every day."

"Okay, that's enough." Peter called out. "You want to spar anymore, you'll have to do it on your own. Charlotte and I will be heading to Seattle tomorrow to drop a few hints and set the trap."

"It's time?" Christy asked, looking over at him, and standing straighter as she did it.

"Yep, we go much longer and the Volturi will come. She probably has just enough newborns to make her feel confident she could pull this off. Especially if we shrink the size of the coven living here."

"You want some of us to move away?" Eleazer asked.

"Not far, just far enough that a spy would be under the impression we only have a couple vampires here." He looked over at Christy. "Christy stays, because let's face it, if this goes tits up I want her on the front lines, and she wouldn't leave 'her human' behind." That was one uncomfortable part of the plan, but it was necessary. Bella had to stay and be bait, at least through this stage. Once the attack was coming Christy would try and get Bella and Seth to safety, like Edward had tried, but she'd do more than put her on the mountain to freeze and still be found. "We want to keep the wolves away as well," He glanced at Leah.

"I'll move." Irina offered, knowing that Leah wasn't staying at the Cullen house now.

"Good." Tanya spoke up. "I'll stay, and Kate?" She looked over at the blonde with an electricity gift, the only offensive gift between any of them. "You're with me."

"I guess that means we're out too." Eleazar told his wife and Christy nodded.

"If Victoria thinks she's up against just three vampires, she's more likely to ignore the warning bells in her head." Christy spoke up and looked around at all the vampires and wolves in the field with them. "I think we're as ready as we can be." It wasn't completely true, just a ready as they'd be allowed to be, but you don't demoralize the troops with that information.

"Okay pussies, good luck. " Peter teased before starting to head out, away from the house. Charlotte gave him an aggravated look, but she followed him. They were swimming to Seattle, to clean off all scents.

Christy squeezed Bella's hand, before stepping out into the clearing again, and standing before Sam, who was still a wolf. "Keep up the practice and keep your ears out."

"Don't forget not to catch any vampires, if you can help it." Tanya added, but they'd talked about that before.

"Protect my wolves." She spoke quieter to just him and he nodded, before turning and leading his wolves away. Leah and Seth followed him as well, for now, just for now, Christy thought, but she didn't like seeing her coven broken up before a battle.

"Well, I guess we're off." Eleazar said while walking up.

"I'm sorry." Bella looked a little pale and her apology was too heartfelt.

"No, Bella, this isn't your fault at all." Tanya spoke firmly. "And family stands up for each other." Christy nodded at those words. "Victoria is a sick and twisted person and to target you, is weak and spineless. If she wanted vengeance, she should have gone after the Cullens, but she wanted an easier target and we'll show her how wrong she was to pick you for that."

"And hey, I haven't had a good fight in decades. It was getting a little boring." Kate smirked and leaned over Tanya. The yelp from the coven leader let them know Kate had used her powers on her. "I don't want to get too rusty."

"Kate," Tanya turned darkening eyes to her sister. "Stop that."

"You're the only one left here it works on sis." Kate teased and then reached out to Christy. "See, nothing." She said after her hand came into contact. She started to reach for Bella as well, but stopped. Christy smirked at the vampire not wanting to see yet again that a human could stop her powers.

"If you actually get that to work I'll have to remove your foot and shove it up your," Christy started with a grin.

"Hey, hey." Bella interrupted.

"Let's go. We need to air out the house." Christy said more seriously. It was waiting game time now.

That night Christy sat in the rocking chair again, a place she'd spend many nights since Laurent had attempted to kill Bella. "I wish we could send Charlie away." Bella spoke softly into the darkness. The human was supposed to be trying to sleep, but it was no surprise to Christy she wasn't successful at it.

"When it looks like it will really happen, we will." Christy promised. She'd already asked Harry to ask some of the elders for a plan on that. Harry wasn't able to go fishing just yet, as he was just out of the hospital, but Billy promised to invite Charlie out once things started moving.

"I wish he wasn't here for any of this." Bella sighed.

"I know." Christy moved to sit on the side of Bella's bed. "I wish you weren't needed. If I had my original powers I could have taken your place for all of this, and kept you out of this completely. I could have had Irina just take you to Alaska for the confrontation and killed Victoria when she came for me."

"You almost never talk about your old powers." Bella said after a moment of silence.

"I've never missed them more than I do at this moment." Christy admitted. "In the books they tried to keep you away from the fighting, and safe, and that didn't work. You were still too close. I want to send you away too, but I worry about doing that because if I'm wrong, then you won't be guarded enough in this reality either."

"I want to ask you not to fight, to stay with me, but you're the best fighter we have." Bella admitted. "But I still wish I could ask."

Christy smiled just a little, knowing that Bella wanted to keep her safe made her feel a little warmer. "I'm going to be just fine. I've been in far worse battles than this with even less backup."

"That still doesn't stop me from worrying." Bella sat up in her bed. "Knowing you have all this experience, that you have done worse before, it doesn't stop me from worrying that you're new to this body, that she might get lucky, that I don't know what I'd do without you."

Christy sighed, "No, I guess it wouldn't." She acknowledged gently, and moved to caress Bella's arm. "I will go into this with all the game I can bring, I'll treat is as seriously as I've treated larger battles and I won't be careless. I want everyone to come out of this okay."

"Yes, everyone, but especially you." Bella reached out and caressed Christy's cheek, moving some hair out of the way and behind her ear. "Especially you." Bella whispered while staring into her eyes. Christy watched those eyes trail down to Christy's lips and she sat still as Bella leaned forward just a little. "Forever wouldn't be anything without you." Bella whispered and Christy felt her heart ache at the moment. She wanted to believe Bella, but part of her wondered if this was only until Edward came back into their lives. Still, when Bella leaned forward a little more, Christy moved to match her and kissed the incredibly warm lips of the human she'd been protecting all this time. "You need to come back to me." Bella told her, whispering into Christy's shoulder as Christy held her close.

"I will, I promise."


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Bella had a soft little smile on her lips most of the times Christy glanced at her. Bella sat closer to Christy at the breakfast table, she touched her very gently while talking, caressing an arm or shoulder. Bella did every non-verbal cue on the list to express interest in Christy.

Annie was just a year younger than Bella when she did this, Christy couldn't help but think. Annie had been interested and attentive and so very young. Now that years had gone by, and Christy was older still, even though her body was younger, Christy sat at the table and found herself encouraging a child young enough to be her own daughter. She knew she was rationalizing, Bella tended to go for vampires much, much, older than Christy so she was actually a better fit. It was an excuse, and even knowing that, it still made Christy feel a little better about the situation.

The cell phone rang and Christy pulled it to her ear. "We missed something." Tanya said as soon as the connection was made.

"What?" Christy sat a little straighter.

"We sent the wolves away and Alice called wondering why Kate and I are at her house."

After the news that Alice had called, and learning she was calling back in the morning because Tanya had said she couldn't talk much yet, wanting to wait for Bella and Christy, they made their way to the house. It was probably the day a spy might be sent, either today or tomorrow, from Victoria. They couldn't call a wolf in to keep Alice out of visions about them. Basically they were vulnerable to Alice's powers until the big battle now and ignoring that wasn't possible.

"She's calling back this morning, but I don't doubt she's 'checking in' with her visions regularly." Tanya told them as they sat down on the couch.

"We can't have them showing up right now, it'll ruin everything." Christy sighed and glared out the window. She'd been in botched missions before, but they pissed her off every time. "We can't let them drive Victoria away, we have to get her before she escalates anymore."

"That might require telling them what is going on here." Tanya pointed out.

"Yeah," Kate chuckled just a little. "I'm sure they'd love to hear how they left this town and Bella unprotected against a newborn army." Her expression was colder than her tone.

"They didn't mean to." Christy spoke softly, looking at Bella, and reaching out to take her hand. She didn't like how Bella felt abandoned and was trying to keep that from hurting as much.

"That wouldn't make me any less dead, the fact that it was an accident." Bella spoke up after a moment. "If I didn't have other vampires, I wouldn't even know where to go for help."

"Oh, so we're 'your vampires' now are we. I thought that was just Christy." Kate gave a leering, teasing, smile. "And have you taken the plunge? Once you went vamp, you became a tramp?"

"Hey," Bella glared at the teasing vampire, but there was a hint of a smile on the humans lips.

"Kate, we have an issue to discuss." Tanya interrupted the two and Christy was glad to see it stopped the teasing for now.

"If we don't tell them, they'll screw this up." Christy offered, glancing over at Bella. "If they come running in, based on something Alice sees, well, we won't get another shot like our first."

It was almost immediately after Christy said that, and they heard Tanya's phone ringing.

"Who is the human drinker, and what is Bella doing with her?" Were the first words out of Alice's mouth as Tanya answered, not even allowing the blonde to speak.

"I guess someone got an incomplete vision." Kate muttered and gave Bella and Christy a lopsided comforting smile. "You're Bella's world, aren't you? You two doing the nasty yet?"

"Oh my god." Alice could be heard by even Bella at that, as anyone speaking in the room would be heard by Alice over the phone. "A human drinker!"

"At least being a woman doesn't seem to be the issue." Bella muttered under her breath and that made Christy smile in spite of herself at the sarcasm in Bella's voice.

Tanya stood a little straighter and shared a pointed look with Christy while putting the phone on speaker and setting it on the table. "You all left Bella unprotected. That human drinker was all that was here to save her when Laurent tried to kill her." Bella reached out and grasped Christy's hand and arm firmly at those words. "You left a human with full knowledge of our world! What were you thinking?" Tanya growled. "And to think one that had made enemies would be safe? I really thought your coven was smarter than this Alice. We came to help protect the girl you left behind, because Victoria has made a newborn army to kill one little human."

The gasp and the pained sucking in of air was easy for Christy to hear, but she ignored it and slipped into the conversation. "We have a plan for dealing with the newborns and I'm confident we'll win. You need to do what you've been doing and stay away right now. We're luring them in with the idea we only have three vampires, when we have much, much more. We need to get Victoria, because she's days away from drawing the Volturi into the area and if they find out about Forks, about Bella, it won't be good for anyone."

"That's Christy, the vampire that Bella ran into after you left. You're lucky it was her." Tanya spoke coldly.

"Bella." Alice's voice was tight and pained. "We didn't know, I didn't know. I didn't see any of this."

"Did you see how dead I was after you all left?" Bella asked, tears on her face, but her voice was cold and angry. "Did you see how I was going crazy? Until Christy came I had no one to talk to. My best friend had abandoned me with the rest of her family when Edward got tired of my being too fragile, and he wasn't willing to fix that." Christy watched Bella's hand shake a little. "You hurt me Alice, you hurt me almost as much as he did. You didn't respect me enough to give me a chance to even have an opinion, and you didn't even bother to say goodbye."

"I wanted to, I didn't even want to leave, but I did want to say goodbye." Alice sounded like she was ready to start crying. "Edward said it wouldn't be a good idea."

"He wasn't the only person I had a relationship with. He had no right to decide that for me Alice. You should have come anyhow." Bella sat firm and Christy could hear the strain in her voice. "I feel like I was just a stray cat you all took in for a while, before putting her out in the cold again. I wasn't considered equal, or worthy of respect. Now that I've seen what vampires that actually are willing to listen to me act like it just makes what we had so much sadder. None of you respected my right to make decisions about my own life, did you?"

"Wow." Kate mouthed at Christy with wide eyes at the confrontation going on.

"I love you Bella, you're my best friend." Alice pleaded.

"I love you too, but you hurt me." Bella started to cry and Christy pulled her into her arms and held her.

Tanya stepped in and spoke into the silence and the pained tears in the room and Christy suspected on the other side of the phone as well. "Bella is a member of two covens now, ours and Christy's." Tanya shared a look with Christy. "Our covens merged when Irina found her mate in Christy's coven. Bella's under our protection and we will protect her."

"He had us leave so she wouldn't be a part of our world." Alice's voice cracked.

"And he didn't have the right to make that decision, either for her, or because it was against the law." Tanya let out a long breath.

"How, how did all of this happen and I didn't see?" Alice asked in pain.

"Leah." Christy muttered quietly. "It was Leah." Even as Christy was starting her relationship with Bella, there were wolves around her. Leah was always a part of this coven, a slowly adopted part, but she was there on the edges. Seth probably helped a lot, but it was Leah that Christy had been helping come into her own.

"What?"

"I have a covenmate that blocks psychic powers, she doesn't control it, it just happens." Christy half explained while caressing the hair off of Bella's teary face. No need to bring up the wolves at this point. "That and you weren't looking for Bella anymore were you? It hurt too much?"

"If you hurt her," Alice's voice started to growl.

"I've been here six months Alice." Christy stared at the phone. "I stayed for her." Bella kissed her with watery lips when Christy said that and held her tight.

"Christy will never hurt Bella. She's amazing, her control is the best I've ever seen, even knowing Carlisle. I didn't even think it was possible to have that much control." Tanya offered up to stop the argument. "We will call you once we've dealt with the newborns and Victoria."

"At least Edward isn't here. He'd come running to save Bella, even if we aren't supposed to." Alice spoke, but Christy could hear the testing the waters that came with that comment. Internally she started to cringe, but Bella spoke up.

"I don't want him to, not anymore. His idea of saving me was killing me, and I don't like being smothered to death with his 'good intentions' and his opinions about what is best for me. I've found someone that listens to me now."

"Does that mean you're going to be changed?" Alice asked.

"After college, the plan is for after college." Bella spoke up and Christy noticed the small smile on Tanya's lips at that and the pointed look that seemed to say, 'I was right'.

"I still want to be your friend Bella. You know that don't you?" Alice asked, not addressing the fact that Bella had plans to be a vampire.

"You can't treat me like you did." Bella spoke quietly. "You can't do that to me again Alice. I am old enough to make up my own mind about things and I don't need to be caged like an errant pet."

"I won't, I promise."

"After all of this, maybe I could see you. Not everyone, definitely not him, but I could see you." Bella spoke up.

"Are you sure I can't help now?"

"No, we need to look weak now. You can't come, but if you needed to call with a vision, we could use that." Bella spoke and then looked over at Tanya and Christy as if for permission for that decision after the fact.

"Our relationship with the Cullens was always up to you Bella." Christy spoke gently. "Alice's visions could be helpful. Peter can't do it all, he's in Seattle and he's not coming back until the battle."

"If we're not telling the family yet, I should go." Alice sounded torn. "I'll watch out for you Bella."

"Watch out for Christy too, she's in the middle of everything."

"Sure, act like I'm just a trainee." Kate muttered and gave a cute little playful pout, "I'm a fighter too."

Alice, who clearly still didn't know what to think about the human drinker that came into Bella's life, agreed slowly to watch out for Christy and was faster to offer her help in watching out for the Denali's. Her main focus though, was going to be on Victoria, who had to, at some point, make a decision to attack.

Once they hung up Tanya turned to them. "So, for the rest of this you two need to not act like a couple. It makes it too obvious this is all a lie." She smiled just a little. "So no more cuddling into your new vampire Bella. We have a newborn on the way and we don't want to know what conclusions would be drawn looking at the two of you now."

It was late afternoon when they got the call from Peter. "Show time."

"That didn't take long." Christy said and shared a look with the others in the house. "You're sure Edward doesn't know we have a surprise coming for him?" She smiled and shared a few looks with Bella to make sure Bella understood they were on.

"Nope, you can turn her in peace and then he can stop brooding about her being human and just be with the girl." Peter proved that they were being listened to now. Christy knew they were definitely being watched right now. "When are you doing it?"  
"We'll probably do it this weekend. I don't want to wait too long."

"Okay, good luck. You can bring the little newborn to my cabin once you're done."

"Thanks." Christy hung up and glanced around the room. "Well, we're set. Looks like we'll have a baby vamp very soon." She smirked at Bella. "How does this weekend sound to you?"

"Wow, that's soon." Bella's eyes were wide, but she knew the plan. The fact that they were talking about a painful change helped to cover up that Bella was nervous because she was acting for an audience she couldn't see, but knew was there. "But I guess we should. Will it hurt?"

"It will be the worst pain you've ever felt." Kate spoke up. "But after that you'll have your Prince Charming."

"Yes, he's worth it." Bella's eyes stayed on Christy as she said that, as if saying, 'don't believe me.'. "Once I'm turned he won't have any more reasons not to be with me."

"Where are you planning on doing this?" Tanya asked.

"I want to be turned in 'our place', Edward and I found a wonderful place in the woods." Bella spoke, trying to sound like it was a romantic idea. Hopefully the newborn watching was a man, because a man might believe that line cheesy line better than a woman.

They continued to talk about the process of being turned and their fictitious plans to squirrel Bella away to a hidden cabin that no one said where it was. It would make Victoria believe that if she didn't move this week she wouldn't find them for a very long time and when she did Bella wouldn't be so easy to kill.

They set the stage well and Christy managed to help Bella cover up her own poor acting by 'reassuring her' that the turning and the pain would be worth it. After that they made sure to become 'boring to watch' by turning on the TV to something rather dull to a newborn, in hopes to send that creep off to report in.

It was Alice that texted that they were clear, about an hour and a half later. Kate grabbed the remote at that time to try and find something better to watch. Christy took that time to slip into the kitchen to get away from annoying movie Kate picked. She was looking through the fridge to see what food they had to offer Bella while she was here, since it was a bit passed lunchtime and Bella hadn't seemed to notice. This coven kept food, because it had members that ate it.

"I thought you were waiting to see if she'd grow into someone you could love once she'd finished healing and grew up a little." Tanya spoke softly from the doorway, before walking into the room.

Christy paused for a moment, before pulling the cheese out of the fridge and setting it on the counter. She stood with the fridge open, watching Tanya. "She made a move and I don't want to turn her away now, this is my chance. I may only get one." Christy took a breath and reached back into the fridge for some tortillas, and the onion before closing the door and focusing on Tanya again. It took a moment of debate before she spoke more, but Tanya was clearly waiting for her. "I have a dark past, so dark that people usually recoil from me when they hear about it." Christy gritted her teeth for a moment. "That's why I came to this world, because it became common knowledge in the last and I was being hunted. I did hard things to protect people, very hard, and there are people that would never forgive me for what I've done, but when I told Bella, she still begged me not to leave her. Me."

Christy looked away and focused on finding the cheese grater. Once she had it in hand she could see Tanya wasn't leaving and she was still waiting to hear more. Christy focused her eyes on the grating she was doing as she spoke. "I'm not throwing away my chance with a woman like that to wait, because I might not ever get a second chance. She's not ready, I'm actually not ready, but now is when this is happening." Christy sighed heavily. "Maybe now is best, because I have competition for her and if I wait too long he'll be back." Christy looked up from her work shredding cheese and gave Tanya a small hint of a smile. "I'm going to go as slow as we need to, but I'm not going to push her away if she wants more, I'm not afraid of myself like he is."

"Well, I guess I should congratulate you." Tanya spoke softly.

"I told her my secrets early on, and she stayed with me. I hadn't told anyone by choice before and she stayed." Christy took a deep breath as she remembered that. "I came from a doomed world, my first world." Christy spoke slowly, while placing the enchiladas, deciding to share a bit with Tanya who had easily became a good friend. "I had to kill people to save my own people, even as death was streaking toward us, an asteroid. I became a leader there and I did things that many find unforgiveable to protect the people in my care. Once that world died I used my powers to leave, powers I didn't have before, and I found myself falling into the job of spy to protect people again, and once again I was doing things people would hold against me to protect them. I do the dirty work no one wants to admit needs to be done, and I sell pieces of my soul to protect others. My teacher called me a martyr, and my allies, what had also been my friends, called me a monster."

"I may not know the details, and someday I want to hear it all, but based on what I've seen of you here, I'd say your teacher was probably right." Tanya spoke softly, her hand rested on Christy's arm as she stared into Christy's eyes. "I am the reason there are succubus myths. I was not a vegetarian vampire for even the majority of my existence and hunting, regularly hunting, was not exciting enough for me. I killed men that took me to their beds, I hated them and how they treated women and I hunted in a very specific way. I did that until I found a man who treated me right and then I started to doubt what I was doing, but I still needed to eat. I lived and continued to hunt in that way for a long time after I knew it was wrong, until I found another way to live. I was a monster Christy, I didn't just pick the rapists and murderers you go after. I went after men solely because they were men."

"And you probably had your reasons." Christy spoke softly and could see the hint of a flinch in Tanya's eyes that told her all she needed to know of why Tanya chose that method to hunt. "So you are the great succubus of legend and I'm the 'goddess of death'." Christy spoke slowly, using a name she'd been called a few times before. "And we are both here protecting a human woman from danger. I think if you can call me a martyr, you can't be a monster, just based on why we are here."

"Thank you." Tanya spoke softly and then left out the back door. Christy watched the blonde run for the tree line and start circling the property, clearly needing some space to herself, but she was probably also checking for the scent of the newborn that had spied on them earlier.

"Our great leader doesn't like to talk about her old diet much." Kate spoke up and Christy turned to see the more playful sister looking serious in the doorway. "In spite of the rumors, she was the only one of us to hunt like that for a long period of time, though I did hunt traditionally as well. I tended to go after braggarts in bars myself, or braggarts anywhere actually. I didn't care about gender, just snobbery."

"She was hurt, wasn't she?" Christy asked quietly.

"A thousand years ago, many women were 'hurt'. It was common, expected actually." Kate didn't look playful at all in that moment. "It's why we didn't resist the idea of your diet all that hard, it's easier for us to accept than I believe it will be for Carlisle and his crew. We'll take you, red eyes and all, because you have more honor than most vampires we ever see, regardless of diet. I'm gonna say your teacher was right too, you're more than a martyr though. You're a hero."

It was a stark reminder that the only person in the house that didn't hear Christy's conversation with Tanya was Bella. "Thank you." Christy muttered, surprised at how touched she felt to have these two vampires say that to her.

Kate's smile grew just a little wicked. "Bella is damned lucky to have you. I was seriously starting to consider tossing you down and doing you right, because you've been the most effortlessly romantic person I've seen in too many years and who wouldn't want a little taste of that?"

"I'm just going to say thank you to that one." Christy smiled just a little at the comment.

That night, they knew that Victoria had to be getting her report and Christy stood outside of Bella's house with two other vampires with her. "You're sure this will work? There isn't some way to actually catch her?" Kate asked and it was nice to hear actual concern in her voice. Christy gave Kate a small smile.

"No, if she goes up in the helicopter and gets up high fast even a newborn couldn't jump that high." Tanya and Christy had both tried to poke holes in their plan, seeing what the limits they'd have and considered that whatever they could do a newborn could do better so they were very careful with the plan.

"If that Elder takes her out over the water immediately she'll be safe and they can stay out there for the battle." Tanya explained to Kate. "They won't be able to toss anything far enough to hit her and they couldn't jump it from water."

"If she's on land at all, there is a chance of danger." Christy explained, remembered how that book had left Bella too exposed, she'd gone with a more careful plan for Bella's safety this time, but it relied on timing and cooperation. They needed the wolves, but now they also needed the elders to coordinate this and for Billy to pilot that helicopter.

Christy was a little uncomfortable with this plan simply because Bella's safety was going to be completely out of Christy's hands for this, but she had enough experience in this sort of thing to know she had to trust others to do their jobs, because in this one thing she wasn't the best one for the job. She was the best fighter and needed to be on the ground, or she could have piloted that helicopter herself. She was leaving an average human to protect her new girlfriend, her human. She did plan to send Seth with them just in case, knowing that kid would be a better fighter than anyone even knew if it came to that, but that no one wanted a wolf that young on the battlefield.

Tanya's phone rang and she picked it up with a frown. "One more visit for tomorrow morning and if you make it sound like you're turning her that night I think we'll have a night attack." Peter spoke quickly, and then hung up.

"So he wasn't secure." Christy muttered at his quick message. "He should learn to text in those situations."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"He talked fast, like he had just a few seconds to be able to. He wasn't far enough away, he was afraid of being caught. I think Peter and Charlotte are doing more for us than they said. I think they infiltrated the newborns." Christy would not have approved of that risky of a move for them, which is probably why it wasn't brought up. "He plans to attack from the inside, or he plans to trail Victoria. He's got an angle. We have to let him run with it." It was too late now to object, and Christy was known for pulling things like this herself so she couldn't get too mad at him.

"Dammit." Tanya growled.

Christy gave Tanya a hint of a grim smile. "Three covens and a pack working together. It wasn't going to be smooth sailing the whole way with four leaders involved. Let's hope his big 'secret' is the only one."

"Well, at least we know they are all really on our side." Tanya spoke with a heavy sigh.

"Yes, we have that." Christy reassured her and glanced up toward Bella's bedroom window. Bella was starting to move around a bit more in her sleep. "It's good this is almost over. She's run out of clothes since I'm not letting her wash any of them."

"Why did you do that again?" Kate asked with a confused look on her face.

Christy smiled just a little. "Know your enemy. I have a good idea of why Victoria is sending someone tomorrow and I want to make it as easy as possible on her." They would focus their attention on the newborns, the army Victoria created, and in only plotting to capture them Victoria wouldn't sense the trap. Basically Christy was using the strategy that worked on Alice to keep her from knowing things on Victoria, in hopes that it would help keep Victoria's 'danger sense' from catching this trap.

Victoria wanted to give her army Bella's scent so they could track it to her, and Christy actually wanted them to follow that scent right to the ambush. They'd gotten Bella some scent reducing soaps to use today and they'd take the outfit Bella was wearing with them, putting pieces on a two of them in the battlefield, to keep the newborns coming at the strongest fighters. Apparently newborns that let themselves go into hunt mode were single minded in pursuit, so they would keep coming at the scent even if it was killing everyone that did it.

Tanya was also a very strong fighter and she'd be wearing some of Bella's clothes as well. Clearly Peter and Charlotte had other plans on how they would deal with the fight, as they were coming in behind the newborns and boxing them in. Christy knew enough about war to anticipate Peter's moves in this and she approved. He was clearly good at this as well. The wolves wouldn't use Bella's clothing either, because their own scent would render the human scent useless.

"So, since we're as ready as can be, maybe we should deal with one of your other problems." Kate's smile grew wicked. "We could teach you how to have sex with a human. You have to be careful, they are very fragile."

Christy let an evil smirk cross her own lips. "Honey, I've been having sex with people much more fragile than me for years. I think I have it down to an art." She'd had to learn how not to use her enhanced strength in the last world and she had a good idea of what to do now, even though she was so much stronger than she'd been. "You forget, I wasn't human before I was 'turned'." She glanced down at her own body and then back into Kate's eyes. "So I know all about loose grips, slow rolls, and fragile wrists."

"Oh do you?" Kate moved forward just a little, her eyes challenging in her teasing. "That sounds like a story."

"Yeah, that's one I need to have with Bella first." Christy glanced up at the window again. They hadn't really had any time to have the traditional new couple conversations, but there was much that needed to be said and decided. "Alice is going to tell us when Victoria is on the move?"

"Yes, she'll call." Tanya spoke up, pulling the conversation back on track with Christy.

"I hope we can get through Bella's school day before this gets moving. I don't want to come up with a lie for Charlie if he asks why I pulled his daughter out of school." Christy sighed.

It turned out that luck was with them, because Bella managed to finish her last class of the day and go home to shower and get ready for a busy night before the call came. Christy noticed that Bella's laundry had been stolen while she waited for Bella to come out of the shower.

Tanya slipped in the opened bedroom window as Bella was drying her hair and Christy could see in Tanya's face the call had come. "Here, you take her shirt." Christy tossed the shirt Bella had worn to school at the vampire and then started to unfasten her own pants to trade into Bella's.

It wasn't really funny, but Christy did smile a little at Bella's shocked expression when she came into the room to see Tanya pulling off a shirt and Christy tugging off her pants. "We're up." Christy said and watched Bella pale. "It'll be okay, just do everything I told you to." She pulled the new pants up and fastened them. "I'm thinking we'll need to have a party to celebrate after this. Now the wolves eat a lot and we'll need to feed them." Christy started to distract Bella. "You'll have to figure out how much we should order and of what. I'm thinking Saturday afternoon."

"Saturday sounds good." Tanya quickly caught on to what Christy was doing. "But I don't know about inviting that rowdy bunch into the house. Perhaps we could get an invite to their place?"

Christy was packing up a few things for Bella, including a first aid kit for any wolves that might get hurt in the battle, or if Bella pulled anything unexpected like she'd done in the books. "Good luck with that, Billy will work with us, but he's still a prejudiced asshole." She looked over at Bella, who was still standing there a bit tensely. "Put on the hiking boots, in spite of your vampire taxi service, I think you might find yourself walking a bit too, on the way back."

"Oh, okay." Bella sat down and started to tug the boots on, but her hands were shaking. Christy kneeled down in front of her and gently squeezed Bella's hands, before taking over the job of tying her shoes.

"I know you said my talking about my past battles didn't make it any easier for you, but this is the simplest battle I've had in a long time Bella. Mindless newborns, regardless of their strength, are something I could have taken on in my old body five years ago. The people in this world call a group of fifteen newborns an army, I've fought army's with thousands of soldiers I had to keep track of on the battlefield." She rested a hand on Bella's knee and just looked up into her face. "I'm going to treat this like the most important battle of my life, the hardest one, but honestly this is going to be easier than my training exercises. We have an 'army' based on this worlds definition, and a trained one with people who will all watch each other's backs." She smiled and caressed Bella's pale cheek. "We're going to take care of this Victoria problem and then we can just focus on picking a college and a place to live."

"I got accepted into the University of Alaska today." Bella spoke softly, finally joining them in the keeping calm drill. Christy stood up with a smile.

Tanya spoke up, "You had a letter from them in the mailbox as well Christy."

"That would be great if you got in too." Bella said as she picked up the bag Christy had packed for her.

"I don't see how they wouldn't accept me, Tanya beefed my school records up to a rather impressive level. I feel like it's cheating, I wasn't getting 4.0 gpas in real life." Christy gave the two with her a playful grimace as she said that. "And she said I volunteered at a blood bank, that's just wrong." She shook her head at the joke Tanya played on her.

"Speaking of your volunteer work, will Bella need some dinner?" Tanya asked as they made their way down the stairs. Bella was fine with running with Christy but jumping from heights, like her bedroom window, made her uncomfortable so they were going to go out the back door and then run into the woods and start to lay the trail.

"I think Seth will bring something. You called them right?" Christy asked the Denali leader.

"Oh yeah, on my way to you. They are ready and the helicopter is probably airborne by now. The wolves are going to be waiting nearby so they are downwind. Thank god for little favors on that one." Tanya chuckled and Bella smiled just a little at the teasing comment. "Irina and the others are coming in from the South and we know Peter and Charlotte are boxing them in from the East."

"So we've got this." Bella muttered, blinking just a little more. Christy could see glassy eyes as she swept the human into her arms.

"We got this." Christy smiled gently at her and they started to run. Kate flanked them from the left and Tanya was making sure to rub the shirt she'd borrowed from Bella on a few branches once in a while.

"Would my blood help?" Bella asked and Christy couldn't help but smile a little, seeing that Bella was still strategizing.

"I'm not really hungry right now, but if you want to," Christy teased.

"No!" Bella protested with a bit of force, clearly a little irritated with the teasing. "I mean would the scent of my blood help?"

"Yes it would." Christy spoke honestly and stopped. Tanya and Kate looked a little apprehensive when they stopped with them. Christy looked at the golden eyed vampires. "Are you going to be okay if we have a little bloodletting?" Her eyes went to Bella. "Just a little. Let me do it, I don't want you hurting yourself too badly."

"You're going to make me bleed on purpose." Bella seemed to grin just a little. "Will you be okay?"

"Honey, you could bath in blood and I'll be fine." Christy reassured her, not mentioning that she'd been hunting well this week to keep up her strength to the point that she'd be battle ready at any time. Apparently human blood made you stronger than animal blood, and she was the only one here that ate that.

"Ew." Bella grimaced, but Christy set her down on her own feet.

"The trick is to avoid the major arteries, even though you know they'll bleed best." Christy spoke to Bella, and ignored the slight paling of her skin. "When feeding, go for the arteries, but if you're just wanting to turn a human into an air freshener you just need some blood, we just need to scratch the surface really. A little blood goes a long way."

Kate chuckled and even Bella gave a shy smile. "You're turning this into a teachable moment, this?" Kate said in a disbelieving tone.

"Any time I can." Christy smiled and took Bella's left hand, pulling it up. "Hand wound and we can say you fell down."

"That's what we call every vampire inflicted wound on me, my falling down." Bella said and looked away, scrunching up her face. Christy moved quickly and dragged a nail over knuckles to break the skin a bit and the smell of blood filled the air. When Bella looked back at her hand she grimaced. "More than that. I want them so stupid you pick them off easily." Christy could have argued, but she just stopped breathing for a moment and cut Bella a bit deeper, as if she'd snagged her hand on a thorn when trying to catch herself and blood flowed more readily.

"There." Christy said and she could smell Bella's blood easily and knew it would smell for quite a distance. Some dripped on Christy's shirt. "I'm sorry it hurts, but we need to get going." Christy picked her up again and Bella wrapped her bleeding hand around Christy's neck to help hold on, as Christy carried her bridal style through the woods.

"Damn, that's fresh blood right near your face. I'm getting twitchy and you just let it drip on you." Kate sounded stunned and Bella smiled a small pleased smile as they ran on. Christy knew it was because Bella felt safe in her arms, even bleeding and it was a powerful feeling for the girl, that level of trust was beautiful for Christy too. That wound that Christy inflicted was going to be the only one Bella got.

"We need to move faster." Tanya said after glancing at her phone and so Christy supported Bella's body better and picked up the speed. They could not go as fast as possible while carrying a human, it would kill Bella to go at that speed, so other vampires would be able to catch them since they didn't have the human passenger. It was something they considered and they were leaving a huge lead in place to deal with it. They could hear the helicopter in the distance and Christy expanded her senses to make sure nothing happened in this last home stretch to get Bella to safety.

The helicopter sat with in the middle of the field, Quil Ateara the elder in the pilot seat. The old man was probably the oldest the tribe had and he sat in a helicopter in the middle of what was going to be a vampire battleground with a firm determination on his face and a child wolf in the backseat. That was pretty bad ass in Christy's opinion. She rushed to the door of the helicopter. "Stay away until we call. I want to make sure there are no surprises." She told him and set Bella down.

The odd look he gave her, the surprise was confusing until Bella spoke up. "Oh god, I got blood on your face, I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't bother me." Christy leaned in and gave Bella a brief kiss and pulled back to close the door. "You're the one that wanted to 'mark me'." Christy closed the door and nodded when the elder gave her a nod before pulling up into the air. Christy watched a bit tensely until they reached a height that Tanya and she had determined was safe. Bella waved to her weakly as they made their way out toward the water.

"They are all going to go right for you. You smell delicious." Irina's voice came from the woods as she and the other two Denali's joined them for the first time in a few days. "Spread some of that around or you'll be overrun and we'll be bored."

"If anyone thinks they can handle it, they are free to come and get it." Christy offered, knowing the blood on the back of her neck and the side of her face would be more than enough, as a few drops would do the trick.

"Your eyes are black." Tanya said as she moved to gently swipe a finger through the blood on her face. "You didn't even hint that you were having trouble."

"I was fine, but she saw my eyes and she never flinched." Christy smiled just a little, before turning to face the area they knew the others would be coming from. "She used to be so afraid of bleeding near me."

"You like that she's willing to open a vein near you now?" Kate asked, "Kinky, and a little creepy even for a vampire." Bella's blood was moved around, though Kate didn't offer to have any on her and neither did Carmen.

"Incoming." Christy muttered as she heard the stamped coming their way. "If anyone gets killed here, I'll resurrect you just so I can kill you myself, understood."

"Yes Ma'am." Kate muttered and they spread out to fight. The sound of fast footsteps from behind them were a little reassuring as the wolves rushed to join the battle with them, especially when the newborns broke through the trees and there were three times as many of them as there were vampires waiting for them.

Christy moved forward, seeing the larger male coming in their direction, and the odd way Elezear and Carmen had grimaced and evaded him. Christy had read about a character like this, that the others wouldn't be able to face due to his power, but she stepped up to him and jerked to the side at the last moment, before leaping over his shoulder and grabbing his head in the process. She tossed his body at another male fighting Irina, even as a wolf snatched that male out of the way of the flying body and ripped his head off.

Fred's head, in Christy's hands, was used as a projectile at a young female that froze when she found it in her hands. Christy growled as she blocked a vampire from biting her throat and she continued to block and evade as she glared at that one. She continued to growl as she ripped the arm off of her opponent and used it to bash her across the face, her eyes moving to the young frozen vampire just standing in the middle of the battlefield. Christy hadn't even considered what to do with that newborn, but now wasn't the time to care.

Sweeping her legs out Christy knocked the female she was fighting to the ground and then kicked her head off, sending it off where it would have to be found later. Christy flung herself into the air and over the battle Tanya was fighting to help a wolf with two vampires in front of him. "Don't be greedy Jacob, we all want dance." She said as she tackled a male away from Jacob. Her third kill in the battle was relatively easy and Christy found herself turning to face Kate behind her and then they moved back to back as several vampires rushed them. "You're the greedy one Christy, damn how many have you gotten so far?" Kate muttered, before moving forward and sending a jolt of pain through the vampire to their left before engaging the one on the right. Christy grabbed the one Kate electrified and tossed him at the two rushing her.

"Not enough." Was all Christy said as she saw a wolf being grabbed. "Shit, you're on your own. Don't die." She yelled as she ran as fast as she could, dodging invites to fight from newborns nearby as she tried to get to the wolf that was starting to yelp in pain and fear.

Leah was in a bear hug, trapped as the newborn female with a wicked sneer and bad attitude started to squeeze slowly, slower than a merciful kill would take and Christy saw red as Leah yelped loudly and she heard a bone crack, "Leave my wolf alone!" Christy yelled as she tried to tackle the female away, but Leah was just dragged down to the ground with them, she wasn't being let go.

When the sound of another rib cracking hit her ears Christy thrust her fingers into the vampires eyes and yanked back, ripping her head off, but as her hand and the head yanked free of the body, a strong arm grabbed Christy by the wrist and yanked her up into the air, before Christy saw dirt and ground coming up at her fast. She was slammed down twice, causing a huge rumble when she hit, but when she heard the cracking and tried to swing her body around she found herself flying passed Tanya and Kate and into a tree.

Christy tried to push herself up to her feet, but fell again. She could see Leah crawling over a few feet, before collapsing helplessly, and Sam big the head off of the vampire standing over the female wolf, even as Irina blocked another from getting Sam. Both of them started to circle around Leah, keeping others away, and Christy tried to get up again.

When she moved her arm to touch the ground she saw it. She hadn't been let go, and flung away from the battle. It was a sick feeling that hit her as she saw that her arm had given out and it was missing, her entire left forearm was just gone, leaving jagged stonelike flesh as the end of what was left. "Shit."

There wasn't time to freeze. Christy got up and tried to think of how to fight one armed as she rushed to Carmen's side. Charlotte reached Carmen first and Christy was glad to see the reinforcements as the small blonde female and Carmen each ripped an arm off of Carmen's attacker. "Dios mio, Christy." Carmen stared at Christy's arm. "Oh, we have to find that."

Christy used her momentum from running to flip herself over Carmen's head, using her one good arm to push off of the Denali, to get the vampire rushing the Spanish vampire and kicked the head right off of the attacking newborn.

The smell of fire started to fill the meadow and Christy turned to see Peter had gotten one started.

Charlotte yelled out, "We're missing a piece of Christy, check anything before you burn it!" It was tempting to look for it, but Christy took a measure of the battlefield and it was much more even now. Leah was still panting and hurting, but she was not moving much from where she'd crawled. A quick count found all of her side still standing, and there were still some newborns.

The caress of death hit her and Christy grimaced. "We can burn them after." She muttered toward Peter, who was just busy tossing heads into the fire he'd created. Christy's body started to shake as what was one death become three, and then five. She fell from the force of it after so long without feeling this power and the water of the creak splashes as she hit the edge of it with her knees.

"Three o'clock Christy." Peter yelled out even as he tossed more heads into the fire. Christy felt like she was clenching both fists, even though one wasn't there and she jerked her head to the side to see Victoria, what had to be Victoria, staring with wide eyes at the battle. Christy turned to face the female, but it was clear Victoria was about to do what she did best and run.

"Scream!" Peter yelled out and four more heads hit the fire. The force of more death, vampire deaths, hit her and it took almost a fraction too long for Christy to understand, but when Victoria took her second running step Christy screamed, and pushed all she could into something she wasn't sure she had enough to do yet.

The black rumble of the portal startled everyone, but Victoria had already built up so much speed she couldn't stop and Christy focused on a world where Victoria wouldn't be able to do any harm. She sent Victoria to the end of the world, her world and the portal closed quickly after her so there would be no traveling back.

"NO!" A male voice yelled and Christy saw wild eyes staring at where Victoria had been. The male turned to glare death at Christy.

"Don't let him get away or we'll be doing this next week." Christy spoke coldly as she interpreted what she was seeing in that male's face. He would want revenge. She wasn't sure who was close enough to hear her, or was not in the middle of finishing off the newborn army, but when he took off running Christy didn't have time to look back, she had to put in chase right now or she'd lose him.


	11. Chapter 11

Christy chased that bastard through the national forest, across roads, over creeks and rivers, and right toward the border between Forks and La Push. It had only been luck they hadn't run into anyone, but she could smell and hear people and she pushed harder to try and catch him before he slaughtered the wolves' people. The person behind her put on speed as well and Christy shared a meaningful look with a wolf that looked like it might be Quil or Embry. "I'm going, he'll kill them."

The wolf just nodded and focused on the trail, running faster himself. The scent of the border hit her and she took a running leap through it and tackled the newborn running from her. The smell had disoriented him for a moment.

Christy wrapped her legs around his torso as he tried to get up and she grabbed his head with two hands and twisted hard. As the vampire tried to reach up to grab her the wolf lunged forward and snapped at his arm, taking one off, and giving Christy the time to twist the head right off. The male vampire's body collapsed and Christy hit the ground with his head in her hands. As she braced herself her eyes widened as she noticed the left arm that she'd lost was apparently back.

In the sun she could see her right hand glittered, but her left did not. She hesitated for a moment, before she let out a breath of air. "We need to burn him." She reached out with her left hand and grabbed his remaining arm and ripped it off. Before being a vampire, that move would have been beyond her, but her new arm had vampire strength. "Okay then." She muttered and tossed the severed arm into a pile with the head.

The wolf ripped a leg off and in very little time they had a collection of parts in a pile. She studied the wolf with a hint of a smile. "Got a light?"

That earned her a look, as the wolf clearly had no pockets.

"Where did your shorts go?" She asked as she noticed he was missing the bit of clothe they all carried. A humph of air was her only response and she looked out at the woods, and toward the camp ground she could smell and hear.

The wolf left, rushing back the way they came and Christy stood on wolf land awkwardly. Since she didn't have an audience and she was on guard duty, Christy took a moment to pull the new arm up to study it. Focusing on the finger, and the knuckles she tried to shift and her smile grew wide as she found herself looking at claws.

With a slash at the torso on the pile, Christy found her claw could cut vampire flesh. "Oh this will be useful." She muttered as she shifted it back to normal. It still didn't glitter in the sunlight like the rest of her body, but Christy didn't bother spending time working on that yet, it was something she was sure she'd be able to do later. She could hear the wolf coming back more clumsily on the trail and turned to face him and see what wolf she had.

"Here. My shorts caught on a branch." Christy pulled the lighter out of the air, while studying the young man in front of her, Quil jr. His grandfather was an elder, the elder with Bella in fact. "We should burn and run, I don't think you should have to deal with the red tape of running the border, you were just trying to save them." He nodded toward the camp grounds.

"Thanks," Christy told him while she carefully lit the vampire parts and stepped back fast. Death caressed her like it used to, stronger than it had with Laurent. Christy studied her new arm for a moment and shook her head as she guessed that the stonelike skin of her vampire body was keeping some of the power out, but now that she had a break it in, well, she was charging faster.

When she looked up she could see Quil studying her and then her arm with a frown. "I thought Leah saw you lose your arm? What's going on?"

"Apparently I regrow what I lose, handy power." Christy gave him a hint of a smile, before looking at the fire. "Can you watch this? I need to get back and deal with the aftermath."

"Oh, oh yeah." He stared at her arm. "God, that is creepy, but cool for you. Leah will be relieved; she was so upset you got hurt helping her, especially after you made such a point of warning her about that move. That was all she could think about, that and guarding your arm, you left it near her. I got this, you go." Christy grimaced as she heard Leah was torturing herself while she laid on the battlefield unable to move with her injuries.

"I will always watch out for her, she's my wolf." Christy muttered before turning to run back the way they'd come. She was able to follow their scent all the way back to the clearing.

She could smell fire, and she didn't feel any new deaths. Christy stepped into the clearing to see several eyes turn to her. "Quil is burning the one that almost got away and he'll come back." She let them know, but she was more focused on the small circles of chaos in the field. There was a group around Leah, who was still on the ground in wolf form, and there was a circle around the only newborn still in one piece on the battlefield. Christy could see that the young girl, Bree, was scared and confused looking, but she was watching everything with wide eyes as a conversation happened around her about her. The sound of the chopper drew Christy's eyes up to see it was still out a bit.

"Bree can't handle humans near her." She called out and Peter nodded that he knew, he was working on it. The helicopter was making Bree the priority, because it was getting closer and Christy wanted to be with Leah, but she had to go over to the others and see the little newborn.

"Someone needs to call that helicopter and tell them to stay airborne." She felt her cell phone in pieces in her pocket so she couldn't do it.

"Peter wants to take this girl with him." Tanya told her while pulling the phone out, but she didn't start to call just yet.

"I like that idea." Christy spoke softly, looking into Bree's eyes. "You were played and I'm sure Peter will teach you the truth about what you are now." She glanced at Peter and Charlotte. "You think you want to do this?"

"We could use someone new to talk to. I'm thinking she'd like our diet more than the Denali piss drinking." He smirked, because he'd heard Christy had said that to them. Tanya grunted a little in disapproval of the teasing.

"Thank you for the help here." Christy glanced around. "You even cleaned up, how nice." She muttered as she noticed that there were no spare parts laying around. She'd be a little concerned if she hadn't already heard Leah had her arm, not that she knew what to do with it now.

"We can take off now, get her something to eat and let your girl land. Bella's beside herself worrying and you might get lucky tonight if you play it right." He smirked at her and held his hand out, so Christy put her left hand into his. He sniffed at it and shook his head. "You are incredibly powerful. Only you could come out of an attack losing an arm and come out much stronger for it. Keep your spare parts, but I wouldn't suggest putting it back."

"Sure thing." Christy glanced over at Leah and then to the wolf watching this conversation here. "Bree gets to leave, we won't kill her. She was lied to and these two will teach her our diet." She wasn't technically able to order the wolves around, but Sam would hear her talking she was sure, as he was still wolf as well. Her eyes moved back to the newborn. "Bree, you come back to Washington or you go to Alaska without these two I'll kill you myself." She glanced at Peter and Charlotte as she said that. They let her without interrupting so she continued, "Nothing personal, but my humans are in the area."

"I understand." The little vampire whispered shyly. "I'll stay away."

"Good, good luck. I think you'll find life a bit better than it was with Riley." She hugged Charlotte goodbye and whispered into her ear. "If you feel she's safe, I'd like it if you visited once in a while."

"We'll see you again, Peter wants to introduce a friend of ours to you and yours. He just wants us to convince him to try our diet first." She smiled.

"Yep, that and well, with our new newborn we need to wait until you turn the girl before hanging out." Peter added with a knowing smirk. Peter keeping a grip on Bree's arm as they ran off. Sam must have approved it, because wolves didn't give chase.

It took a moment for Christy to guess who Peter might be talking about and she smiled as she guessed the Denali coven was going to grow a little more when Garrett came to meet Kate. As far as Christy was concerned that pairing would add the Whitlock's to the family tree, merging yet another coven into their growing one.

"Guess I don't have to cancel the flight." Tanya sighed. "That was intense, glad it's over. Now we just have to figure out how to get a huge wolf to the vet."

"She's our only casualty?" Christy asked as they made their way towards Leah and the others.

"Well, there was you too, I thought, but you've done something." Tanya glanced at her arm. "Irina pulled all the pieces of you out from under Leah, she'd crawled over them to make sure they didn't get lost. It doesn't look good, it was crushed and it'll take a while to reform."

"Well, lets keep it all until I figure this out." Christy wiggled her left hand fingers and then ignored the topic as she studied Leah. Sam shifted and held the cloth of his shorts in front of him for at least some modesty, but the fact that Leah was hurt obviously made him less shy about being naked around everyone.

"She needs to shift, it'll be easier to move her if she's not so large. She's not listening to me, because shifting is going to hurt like hell and since I'm not her Alpha I can't make her." Sam told her and Christy kneeled down beside Leah. "We don't have a healer we can trust with this." He grumbled and Christy shared a look with him, before she reached out her hand and caressed Leah, felt the fur of her face and the rough breathing Leah was doing.

"I only heard your ribs, did anything else get hurt?" Christy asked as she gently ran her hands over legs to feel for damage. She held Leah's large head still and stared into her eyes. Her pupils looked good and she didn't feel damage in the front legs.

"It's just her ribs, but they feel like hell." Sam told her, so he must have asked this before.

"Can you open your mouth?" Christy asked softly and she leaned down to sniff when Leah did that. She didn't smell blood, just a lot of wolf. "Good, looks like your lungs are okay." She was lucky, it could have punctured a lung.

Leah whimpered and tried to move. "It's okay, don't move too much you'll hurt yourself." She spoke softly and moved to sit in front of her wolf. "Thank you for saving my arm Leah." Her voice cracked a little. "I may have grown it back, but you don't know how much that meant to me to hear you did that." She caressed the fur of Leah's head, and ran fingers gentle over her ear. Everything felt fine. "I'm going to teach you some more shapeshifter tricks and we'll fix those ribs. I think that's really all that's wrong, that and probably some painful bruising." Sam made an odd noise and Christy ignored his stare as she focused on Leah's eyes. "I knew a shapeshifter that could almost heal her bones if they were broken." She spoke softly, thinking about Mystique. "She still had to be careful for a while, but she didn't need to go have them repositioned, she didn't need a doctor, if she could focus enough to shift the damage off."

"That would be great if you could help her try that." Irina spoke up, her own hands caressing Leah's back gently.

Christy ignored the wolf audience that was growing around them as she slowly petted her wolf, trying to keep her calm. It seemed to help, Leah found reassurance in Christy's presence and scent. It had to be a wolf thing, but Christy was going to use it. "You need to try and forget about the pain and focus on how you felt in your human body before the battle. You need to think about how your arms and legs worked, how you could twist your torso and take deep breaths. You need to think about how your chest feels when there is no pain." She did her best to keep her voice soft and soothing, almost as if they were on a guided meditation. "You always reform your bones, you always change your skin, a wolf's body is nothing like a woman's and you do this all the time. Your ribs now are far larger than your human ribs. It isn't necessary to take the damage with you when you change Leah, you can change right out of your pain."

The sound of the helicopter was getting very loud and Christy could feel the wind off of it as it came down for a landing. She glanced over at it and could see Bella staring out the window as they were lowering to the ground. She knew Bella would want to come to her, to hold her and verify she was okay. "Um, could someone hide that arm?" Christy asked as she glanced at her missing arm. "I'll tell her but letting her see, well,"

"I've got it." Tanya offered and she moved to so very carefully take the arm and leave with it. There was a moment when Christy stared after her and realized how much she was trusting Tanya with. The fact that she felt okay with that was a relief. It was nice to have people she could really trust to have her back, or her missing limbs in this case.

Christy returned her focus to Leah. "You currently have a tail, and you don't have that in human form. This is why I believe it will work, because you shift and change your bones every time you shift. You create new ones on a regular basis." She needed her wolf to believe this was possible. It might not actually be possible, but Christy had to make Leah believe it if there was a chance of it happening.

The blades on the helicopter were slowing and they all could hear the door opening. Christy could smell and hear Bella and Seth approaching. "Oh god, is she?"

"She's alive, just hurt." Sam spoke up as Christy continued to stare into confused wide wolf eyes. "Christy thinks she has a way for us to heal and she wants Leah to try it."

"If Christy says you should do it, you really should." Bella spoke softly, moving up behind Christy. The warm hand of her new girlfriend rested on Christy's shoulder and Christy felt it shook a little. "She always knows what she's talking about."

"I want Leah to shift to how her body was before the battle." Christy explained softly and kept her eyes on Leah.

Leah whined, but she bared her teeth and growled a little, while focusing. She shrunk slowly and fur turned to skin.

"Sam, get your boys to look away." Christy ordered and noticed that Sam didn't even need to speak, the wolves all turned as Christy said that. "Irina, can you get a blanket? I think there was one in the copter."

"I've got it." Irina said and was gone at full vampire speed. There was a startled gasp from near the helicopter and Christy looked up to see the elder was a bit more pale because a vampire ran full speed passed him and back. After that Christy could see and hear Jacob starting to fill the elder in to what had happened.

"How do you feel?" She turned her attention back to Leah.

"Tired, really tired." Leah muttered, but she sat up slowly as Irina covered her with the blanket.

"Can I feel your ribs?" Christy asked, knowing that it had to be done, but she needed Leah to say so.

"I," Leah reached under the blanket and touched her own ribs. "I think I'm okay, just sore."

"I've had to patch people up before, can I check?" Christy asked again. That got her a nod and Christy gently reached under the blanket to touch fiery hot skin. She could feel Leah shudder a little at her cold and she ran her fingers over the ribs. "Oh you did a good job." She smiled and pulled back. "I'd suggest taking it easy for a few days and you'll be fully healed."

"That's amazing." Sam whispered. "How did you know we could do that when we didn't even know?"

"Experience." Christy held up her own hand and wiggled her fingers, without saying anything. The sun wasn't shining at this moment, as it was setting, so Bella only looked confused. Christy would explain tonight about what happened.

"You're coming home with me right?" Irina asked Leah and helped the wolf to her feet. Christy smiled at the couple, before turning to everyone and standing up herself.

"I want to thank you all for this." She spoke louder so that the elder could hear her. "This was a good battle because we did it together, and I appreciate each one of you for that." She looked around again. "We're hosting a small party tomorrow, and I'll make sure to shop for enough food for even this crew if you'd like to come."

"I wish we could say yes." Sam spoke up and then he sighed heavily. "But that's going to be our tribal gathering."

"Aw man," Some wolf muttered in disappointment.

The elder took a few more steps forward and he was studying Christy hard. "I believe we would like to attend. You know more about what is possible for our wolves than even we do. Perhaps legends only go so far."

Christy smiled at the elder, pleased to see how well the alliance was going. She expected to win the wolves over much easier than the elders. "Alright, we'll have a barbeque." Cooking that much food outside would spare the house all that stench and neither of them really wanted to be enclosed with the others scent. Only Christy's wolves smelled okay, still a bit strong, but they were better. Perhaps it was because she cared about them, but it made a difference.

Christy returned to Bella's house with Bella, and Kate, Carmen, and Eleazar came with them. They were all confident that they'd gotten all the newborns, but they were being careful.

It was dark by the time Christy returned Bella to her house and slipped upstairs to wait for her to have dinner with Charlie before they talked. They'd managed to fit an entire battle between school getting out and dinner. From her seat on the bed she could hear Bella and Charlie talking about simple things, and Bella sharing that she'd gotten her first acceptance letter to college. She could also hear that Carmen and Eleazar stayed to watch the house for this one night, just to be safe.

She'd have to get used to the lack of privacy at some point if they lived with the Denalis, or even within her own coven now, so Christy sighed and sat back to wait for a private conversation with Bella that wouldn't be private. The precaution of having backup the night so many newborns were in the area was too important to complain about it now.

Bella sounded impatient and at times irritated, but she was told to call her mother to tell her about college and she had to have dinner. It took her over an hour to shake free of her parents to come upstairs. It gave Christy time to use a left over glass of water and some tissue to clean the blood Bella had put on her off.

"I think it's actually a good thing." Christy told Bella about her arm after the girl paled to sickly white. "My powers work better now, and look." Christy held her arm out and shifted it to have claws and then back. "And it doesn't glitter in the sunlight. I'm going to try and work with that and see if I can coat myself in some anti-glittering skin. If I can learn to do that we're going to be able to see Cancun, or Hawaii, your tour of the world will be much better if we can do the sun too."

"You're worried about vacations? You lost an arm Christy!" Bella stared at Christy with a disturbed look on her face. "An arm and you'll what, keep it in a box?"

"I was thinking I might do that." Christy admitted. "I mean, it's still 'me' too so I can't just dump it, but this is an upgrade." Christy held her own arm up. "This is my real arm, it's back." She whispered. She watched Bella's face as it softened and she noticed her arm had Bella's full attention. Bella reached out and gently touched her arm. "This is what I was made of before I became a vampire." Christy explained as Bella caressed her fingers over her forearm and then interlaced them with Christy's fingers.

"You're a bit warmer."

"I'll be able to pass as human much easier now." Christy repeated slowly.

"I was scared." Bella moved closer and pulled that arm around her into a seated hug. "It's over now, Victoria's gone?"

"She can't ever return." Christy reassured Bella. Victoria probably didn't deserve such a horrible death, but she wasn't merciful to her own kills and Christy wasn't going to let what she did to that vampire bother her. "I sent her through a portal to my homeworld Bella, Peter's power of knowing covered my gift and he helped me power up so I could create a portal." She admitted, no one else had asked yet what the portal was about, but she knew they wanted to. "She's going to starve to death, because it's a dead world. She'll find a way to kill herself."

"I thought vampires couldn't kill themselves." Bella shivered and Christy pulled her closer.

"Oh, I'm sure it can be done." Christy thought about volcanoes, and how that would likely work. "But I might have left her near my home, so she'll have a hunt to find a way out." Tacoma wasn't near any live volcanoes, unless the asteroid woke up a sleeping giant.

"There aren't any people there she could eat are there?"

"No, no one near there would have survived. Maybe some managed to live in South America, or their might be pockets of people in Europe or Africa, I'm not too sure they will live long if they are there, but my USA is dead and it died while I was there. They didn't want to tell us it was landing in the middle of us, but clearly it did." She shook her head and gave a humorless chuckle. "There were people in my world that thought they'd be safer in the Midwest, that somewhere there was a huge bombshelter to protect people. Someone heard the news wrong, because I bet they were actually talking about where it was going to land and so many people ended up flocking to ground zero with hope in their hearts." It was hard to even imagine the sight that greeted Victoria when she arrived, but Christy imagined a wasteland of such huge proportions even her experiences didn't give her enough to imagine it fully.

"You survived that and I was worried about a few newborns." Bella muttered with a hint of humor, obviously trying to cheer Christy up.

"I know, silly isn't it?" Christy gave Bella a small smile.

"I was still worried." Bella spoke softer.

"I know." Christy let Bella push her down onto the bed and stared up at the human staring down at her. "I like the look in your eyes, but we haven't been dating even a week officially."

"I could have lost you today."

"Not really, but Bella, I used up a lot of energy today and I'll need to hunt soon, if not tomorrow, then the day after." Christy reached up and caressed Bella's cheek, pushing hair behind her ear. "It's not really the recipe for fantasies made true."

"But you'd make love to me if you weren't hungry?" Bella asked, her eyes a little wide. Christy knew it was because Bella barely got kisses out of Edward.

"I'm not waiting until you graduate college if you'll be staying with me." Christy smiled as she teased. "I mean, I'll wait, but four years is a bit much to ask." Bella blushed and gently batted at Christy's shoulder at the teasing. Christy's eyes softened as she studied the human with her. "I'm willing to wait if you need it, but you won't have to wait for me. I'm experienced enough to know how to not hurt you."

"Experienced?" Bella swallowed and Christy hated to point this out, but she'd never lied about it.

"I was a spy Bella, and I'm sure you've seen enough movies to know spies end up having to do a lot of things they might not want to do." She gently rolled onto her side as Bella rolled off of her and laid on her own side facing her on the bed. "And with all the adrenaline after a battle, I did some things I wanted to do too." Christy paused. "I'm as far from a virgin as you're going to find Bella, but it doesn't mean it wouldn't be special to be with you." She smirked as the blush covered Bella's cheeks. "I'm an experienced older woman Bella, some girls fantasize about that."

"And don't some women fantasize about teaching an innocent virgin all the tricks?" Bella managed to tease back, but her face was fully red now.

"Why, I believe that might be true." Christy joked, and didn't add that she was actually a little nervous about being someone's first again. "Imagine that, we're both fantasy material."

Bella buried her head in Christy's chest, "Stop it." She muttered, and her face was so hot against Christy's body. Christy chuckled and pulled the girl closer.

"So if you think this place is cold, I can't imagine what we'll have to do to keep you warm in Alaska." Christy teased even more, but the way Bella squirmed in her arms made her stop teasing. "I love you." Christy spoke gently and Bella pulled back to look at her again. It was the start of something and Christy rarely stopped herself from loving, so she put herself out there with hopes Bella wasn't going to end up hurting her in the end.

"I love you too." The human told her and Christy smiled and just pulled Bella closer to cuddle for a little while. "I'm going to tell Charlie we're dating now."

"Okay." Christy liked that, no secrets on that front, and it made her claim on Bella just that much stronger.

They sat in silence and Christy thought perhaps Bella was about to fall asleep with the human spoke up again. "I guess I could invite Alice to my graduation, it's just a month away and I need to focus on the move and school, so having her try and drag me out shopping," Bella shook her head and went quiet.

"If you want her sooner, ask. I get the feeling she'll give you anything you want right now. She wants to prove herself to you again." Christy told Bella.

"Should I really forgive her?"

"If you want to, do it." Christy sighed. "She does love you. I believe that, and I think she can learn to love you the right way, like a friend and an equal."

"And if the Cullen treat you badly because of your diet? Or because you're with me?"

"They won't hurt my feelings Bella. I've been through too much to let strangers opinions hurt." Christy admitted. "As long as you don't let them change your mind about me,"

"Never." Bella spoke firmly and Christy smiled at that.

"Then we can deal with whatever comes. And if they are too rude we can ask them to leave." It seemed a simple solution to Christy, but Bella seemed to think it was something new and never thought about, yet she smiled at the thought of it, so Christy got the feeling that if Bella wasn't completely healed she was nearly there, the damage the Cullen's did on their way out was shrinking.

After Bella fell asleep, Christy took the time to plead with whatever powers that be, to ask for time to make her hold on Bella strong enough to stand up to the Cullen's and Edward. Time was everything she needed, because all the building blocks for something good and lasting were already here. Bella and Christy just needed time to set a strong foundation.

…..

It was a small party. "Bella, they aren't really celebrating your graduation, though that's the excuse. It's a welcome to the coven party." Christy told her when Bella started to protest the news Christy brought her. They sat in Bella's bedroom before the girl needed to go to school for her last day, and graduation was going to be tomorrow. "It'll just be family, but you have to understand that we're about to become the largest coven in the world, if we don't include the Volturi. I'm not sure how many they have, but they aren't like a real coven." Christy sat down in the chair and watched Bella's confusion. "There will be nine of us, even if Seth doesn't join us right away, he is part of us." She smiled a little. "And they are accepting a human into the coven, that's a huge step for them. They are afraid of the Volturi, I didn't have that fear holding me back."

"You're going to make me go to a party?" Bella looked pale. "Those never go well."

"It only went badly once, but if you really don't want it we won't have it. I just want you to understand the reason they want it. I'm sure they will understand why parties aren't your thing after your last one." Christy didn't like that Bella assumed she'd 'make her' do anything. She'd never done that so she knew where this fear came from. "Of course, we could just tell everyone we plan to have a bloodletting at the party and they'll be prepared." She smiled just a little as she teased.

The teasing worked, it pulled Bella out of that moment of regression. Christy expected they'd go through this again for Bella's birthday in a few months as well, until Bella got over that trauma. "So the party isn't really just for me if it isn't really a graduation party."

"No, it's for all four of us, especially those of us moving to Alaska this summer."

"And Alice is going to be there." Bella let out a long breath before she went quiet. Christy waited patiently. "The last time I saw her was at a party." Bella spoke quietly, and there was pain in her voice. Alice was going to have to grovel in this setting, it was clear to Christy the setting was going to make that reunion tougher, but it also made sure there was a lot of emotional backup for her human and Christy liked that better than just sending Bella off alone with Alice right away.

"Our little coven will be there, right?" Bella asked and it was nice to hear Bella talk about their little coven within the larger coven. Christy was usually the one that referred to their small group that way.

"Yes, we all will."

"Okay." Bella seemed more resigned than happy, but Christy understood why.

"I'll tell Tanya today, and I'll tell them to keep it low key." Christy offered and watched Bella relax a little.

"At least I'm not the only one that eats anymore." Bella muttered and gave Christy a hint of a smile.

"Nope, you'll have to fight for your piece of the cake." Christy smiled at how that seemed to make Bella feel better. Bella was comparing them to the Cullens, the party made her mind go that way, and their little coven was winning. Hopefully when the comparisons turned to Edward and Christy, as Alice was bound to do, Christy would win again. They'd been dating for a month now, and they'd cuddled and kissed, but Bella wasn't quite ready for more just yet. That had a lot to do with the complete lack of privacy, Christy was pretty sure, but part of her couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't also that Bella was still unsure about the relationship.

This was why she hadn't wanted to be in a relationship too soon with the girl, this doubt that plagued her. Christy was investing in this and it was very possible she'd lose. Christy would probably feel like this until they actually confronted Edward himself, this fear that he'd come and take it all away. If Bella could see him and still stay with her, then Christy had her, but until that moment it wasn't a sure thing. It hurt.

"Well, you better get going. You'll never have to set foot in another high school after today." Christy smiled at that thought and held onto it when Bella shared a meaningful look with her at that. "You can do college as many times as you'd like, but I think you'll find that isn't the punishment high school is."

"It must not be, you're picking college over lazing around or trying to write without a degree." Bella teased.

"Hey, I picked college even as a human. That's why I stayed to teach once I graduated. College forever was my childhood dream." Christy smiled and watched Bella pick out clothes to take with her into the bathroom.

"Well, we'll see if I want to major in everything under the sun." Bella gave her a small kiss before leaving to shower and Christy sat back down for a moment and looked over the room.

She picked up the phone when the water started. "Tanya, keep it very low key. She's probably going to have flashbacks to her birthday disaster." She said flatly to the Denali coven leader. "I almost hope she bleed tomorrow, just so she can see she's safe with us. We won't leave her."

"Oh," Tanya made a sound that conveyed her sympathy and understanding and drew it out a bit. "Okay, regardless of what Alice pushes for when she gets here, we're just having dinner and a few gifts, but it isn't you she's worried about Christy, she's sure about you. She's just not sure about her new coven. I'll take care of that."

"Thank you." Christy sighed. "I know I won't be invited shopping and we both know Bella could use new clothes for Alaska so Alice is going to get her to go."

"I'll go with them." Tanya offered gently. "I'll even pick up some clothes for you if you want."

Christy considered what Tanya tended to wear and decided she could trust her with that. "Thanks, not too much though, I'm a nomad at heart and I don't like having a lot of clothes." She didn't explain the truth of it, which was that she wasn't used to wearing clothes and didn't like having too many options she wouldn't use.

"Okay then, just a few outfits for the Alaska weather." Tanya paused. "We aren't going to her graduation. It's better that Charlie not see so many of us."

"That's fine, I think her tickets are all used up with Charlie and I, and he wouldn't be too happy to see a Cullen right now so you all can visit before we get to the house."

"Her mother's not coming?" Tanya's voice held a hint of reproach and Christy couldn't disagree with it. They all knew how close Renee came to losing her daughter a few times over in the past year, but that woman didn't know that.

"Her mother couldn't come. I can't say I'm upset about that one. I've already had the 'so you're dating my daughter' talk with Charlie, I could use some time before doing that one again."

Tanya chuckled, "Did her father threaten you?"

"No," Christy grinned as she remembered that afternoon. "He seemed a little lost as to what to do. My being a woman made him reluctant to threaten me, but clearly he wanted to. Instead he just pressed the point that Bella was a sensitive girl and I should treat her right, and if we ever broke up I had better not break her heart in the process." Clearly Charlie was afraid of another breakdown.

"At least he didn't make the colossal mistake of threatening you." Tanya sounded amused. "I'll see you after she starts school. You can help me look over houses in Fairbanks for you."

"Houses?"

"You need enough space for visitors, and you'll find apartment living isn't great for vampires. You need a house, one with enough yard to keep the neighbors away."

"Sometimes I get the feeling you're trying to make me a kept woman." Christy joked, because really, Tanya tossed money her way at a constant pace.

"Oh honey, I'm keeping a whole herd of women. Don't feel too special." There was clear amusement in Tanya voice as she said that. "Bella's going to love that you both need cars." She chuckled, and Christy just shook her head at the thought of telling Bella that one. If there was a chance of the truck making it, Bella would probably rather drive for days then get a new car.

"She'd rather we repair her truck." Christy spoke softly.

"Really?" Tanya let out a huff of air. "Repair that old thing."

"Her father bought it for her, it means something to her. Can we ship it and send it to a mechanic?"

"It'll never be a great car." Tanya paused. "But I'll see what can be done."

"Thank you." Christy smiled as she imagined Bella's response to her truck running smoothly. She'd be happy with that gift, while a new truck would have just upset her.

"You're still getting a new car though." Tanya teased. "My little kept woman. You'll need one, you can't run with her in the snow, she'll freeze. You have to drive to Denali to visit."

"You don't have to sell me on the idea, I know I need one." Christy wasn't as reluctant to accept help, but it was creating an odd power dynamic in this relationship. Something didn't feel quite right, and it bothered Christy that she couldn't identify it yet.

The time of the 'get together', as they'd downgraded it from a party, Bella pulled the truck up to the house and just turned it off. She didn't get out right away, she just stared at the house in silence. "I can do this." She whispered to herself and Christy smiled just a little and ignored the self talk she was happy Bella was doing. "Okay, let's do this." Bella spoke louder and opened her car door. Christy followed her up the steps and when Bella paused she moved forward and opened the front door.

A small black haired vampire stood rigid and still near the stairs, her eyes focused on Christy and Bella in the doorway. Christy could smell that Leah and Seth were already here, and the Denalis were waiting in the living room. "Bella?" A small voice spoke hesitantly, and Christy moved to the side and out of the way of this.

It didn't escape her notice that Alice shifted and moved to place herself subtly between her and her human. Christy watched the small vampire give her a cautious look, as she did it. It was a protective move, and Christy let Alice do it this time. "Bella." She repeated when Bella didn't answer. Christy watched Bella's eyes start to water a little and the breath catch in the human's throat.

"Alice." Bella managed to get out, but the name was cracking as it left her lips.

It took just a moment and there was hugging and crying and Christy ached a little at the scene, but she backed up toward Tanya to let it play out as it was doing. It was obvious both the women in the entryway were hurting.

"She got here two hours ago." Tanya spoke very quietly to her. "We had a little talk about what happened. I think she realizes how big a mistake Edward's made." Tanya leaned in closer as the two in the doorway made their way to the living room. "I impressed upon her the importance of keeping Bella our little secret for now. After everything you went through for your human, you don't need the Cullens interfering now. She promised to keep quiet, and I believe her. Of course when Edward returns keeping quiet won't be enough, but it's something."

Christy didn't comment on the way Tanya was looking out for her interests. She just watched Bella start to smile just a little and felt better about this. "She looks happy." She observed.

"As soon as the frenzy ends I'm going to introduce you." Tanya smiled. Clearly she hadn't caught Alice's caution when around her or the way even now Alice was between Bella and Christy as if Christy was an unpredictable newborn.

It took a half hour for things to feel natural to interrupt the two on the couch and Christy moved forward and ignored the hint of a growl from Alice to take the hand Bella held out to her. "This is Christy. She's why I'm still alive." Bella beat Tanya to the introduction. There was a hint of challenge in Bella's words that made Christy think perhaps Bella had noticed the positioning going on, though she wouldn't have been able to hear the growl that slipped passed Alice's lips, Alice cut it out quickly, it had clearly escaped her. Bella stared into Alice's yellow eyes and Christy could feel the warmth and the caress of her hand that Bella did distractedly while she waited. "Christy killed the rest of that coven that was after me."

"Alice, we talked about this." Tanya muttered and Alice seemed to relax and her smile was tight.

"It's good to meet you." Alice managed to say with a straight face. "Bella means the world to us."

"Yes, she is easy to love." Christy replied and resisted the urge to lay claim herself. If Alice turned it around she'd forgive her kneejerk reactions, but she wasn't going to back down or seem weak, that was a recipe for disaster. Christy moved to stand close to the couch and let Bella's lean into her. As she moved her hand to caress Bella's shoulder, and her finger touched Bella's pulse point Alice froze.

"You're dating?" Alice seemed to cough that out and Bella tensed just a little under Christy's hand. Alice knew this, but she still put a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"I'm very lucky to have Christy." Bella's openness closed and she stared at Alice with a hint of suspicion that Christy knew hurt her to have at this moment.

"That's nice." Alice said, but even Tanya squirmed a little at that lie.

"So, since this is Bella's graduation, and the start of the merger of our two covens." Tanya spoke up. "We have a few things to give our new covenmates." It was pointed, the way Tanya started this now, a show of support. "Irina, Leah, Seth, it's time!" She called out and the others joined them in the living room.

Alice had no choice but to deal with it as Christy perched herself on the couch arm to be near Bella as they waited for the display of how Tanya planned to care for them. It almost seemed ceremonial, the things Tanya had let slip about this, so Christy suspected this was actually part of a vampire ritual she had no idea about, or it was part of Tanya's old human culture.

"We ready to rock and roll?" Seth asked with a grin as he moved to take over a chair. Leah was more subdued as she leaned against it, her eyes moving to catch Christy's. The tension hadn't escaped her. The rest of the Denali's filtered in and the room seemed more partylike just with the number of people in it.

"So, first off, two of our members are doing college." Tanya smirked. "What did you major in last time Christy? War and mayhem?" It was a not so subtle warning to Alice, one Christy was trying to be too polite to give her.

Christy smirked. "Actually, Psychology and Education. I apprenticed in war and mayhem."

"Okay then." Tanya's eyes were more amused at that. "So since the University is just about 200 miles from our home, I've purchased another in the city of Fairbanks for our coven's use." Tanya handed the picture of the house they'd found that day. Tanya actually bought it without seeing it, dependent on it passing inspection. "A nice four bedroom with two fireplaces." Tanya smirked. "So you lovebirds will have to make sure you know company might join you once in a while. It also helps for us to visit when Christy's hunting."

"Fairbanks is rather small." Bella spoke up.

"I might have to go for a jog into other cities. I can't hunt in one city for four years, there is no way there will be enough for me there, and it's just bad policy to hunt that close to home repeatedly." Christy explained and watched Alice's shock at the conversation. "I imagine Alaska, Washington, and Canada will be my hunting grounds."

"You aren't switching to animal are you?" Alice sounded as stunned as she looked. "You're going to live in a house with a human and you aren't switching?"

Leah growled. "Christy can eat whatever slime she wants too. I hope she cleans up Alaska completely while we're there." Christy nodded reassurance toward Leah and watched as Irina started to caress the wolf's arm and shoulder.

"There are already five vampires that live off wildlife in the area." Christy spoke slowly and firmly, without any shame. "I won't compete for shrinking resources and leave violent monsters free to attack the humans living in the area I live in."

"But you'll be living with Bella, a human, how can you?" Alice's voice became more accusatory.

"I have no problem with Christy's diet." Bella spoke up before Christy could. "She is very careful about what she eats and she's done so much good with it." Bella's eyes glanced toward a reddening Leah. "So while I don't imagine I'll become a red eyed when I'm changed, I respect her decision to stick with her diet."

"Oh my god." Alice's jaw dropped and she just stared at Bella. Christy could see the small vampire was arguing with herself about what to do or say, and Alice's mouth closed tightly. "Bella, you've changed." She whispered, taking the wiser road of not pushing this argument, in Christy's opinion.

"It's been almost a year Alice, a very hard year." Bella answered her. "All my 'civilized' vampires left me to die, whether they knew it or not and it was Christy that came, saw me, and decided to stay to protect me. She defended you, saying you all wouldn't have known what was going to happen to me, and she respected me enough to give me the information I needed to make decisions about my own life. I'm going to college because of her, I'm alive because of her, and I now have a new coven because of her."

Alice turned her eyes on everyone else in the room, before stopping on the wolves. "Bella says she'll be changed. What do the wolves think about that? That has to be against the treaty."

"They aren't happy, but there are years to deal with it and as long as Bella sticks to Christy or Tanya's diet they will probably just grumble but not do anything about it. Christy has a different treaty than you do, and Sam is kicking himself for not realizing that Christy could turn people in Alaska and still not break it." Leah's smile was far from friendly. "Christy made an impression with the wolves in that pack and they don't want to cross her. She can be a great friend or a very scary enemy."

"I see." Alice spoke slowly and Christy was surprised at how little she had to do with this confrontation.

"Good, because I'm alive and whole today because of Christy as well, and I want Christy to have what Christy wants. She wants Bella." Leah's words were clearly a threat.

"Oh you know she wants her," Kate smirked, and Christy watched Bella cringe a little at the innuendo coming. "You can practically smell it." Alice blanched at that one, but she kept her silence on it.

"So if you're moving to Alaska, you'll need new clothes." Alice went were everyone expected her to after a tense long silence, choosing the less confrontational path.

"Much as I hate to say it, I do." Bella gave a weak smile to Alice, but squeezed Christy's hand. "We both do, but Christy's not going to freeze in that place like I am." Christy shared a look with Tanya as Bella said that, changing up the plan with her determination not to let Alice sideline Christy, and just when Christy was looking forward to some time away from the little vampire.

"Actually, I was planning to get Christy's clothes. She's another one that doesn't like shopping for long." Tanya interjected.

Bella gave Christy a searching look and Christy gave her back a small hint of a smile. "It's okay. I really think its better for me to stay home this time." Bella loved Alice and Alice was going to need to be reined in before she started putting Bella in a position where she'd have to chose. A group shopping trip right now wasn't a good idea.

"Actually, we're gonna go out and look at cars. We'll buy it in Fairbanks, but you need to pick something out." Irina spoke up.

"My truck," Bella started to protest and Christy smirked and knowing she would.

"Is coming too, but I can't very well run everywhere." Christy teased. "I need a car of my own and Tanya's bankrolling it."

Bella leaned in, her face concerned. "You're giving us too much." She told Tanya quietly.

"I thought that about Christy when she took me in." Leah spoke up. "Just go with it, it's what Alpha's do, they take care of the others."

"I have it and you need it. Leah's right," Tanya gave an amused smile to the wolf, before giving a gentle smile to Bella that made Christy watch more carefully. "It's what Alpha's do." That smile moved to cover Christy as well and Christy felt like she was suddenly understanding something. In spite of what she'd realized it was a relief to finally understand what had been nagging her about all of this.

"So I'm picking out cars and you'll pick up our clothes." Christy broke down the chores. "And we'll deal with furniture in town."

It took less than five minutes for Alice to drag Bella and Tanya away and Christy stood still and waited for them to leave before following Irina to her car. They were just out of listening range when she spoke. "So, about Tanya,"

"Yes?" Irina glanced at her.

"It isn't an Alpha thing, is it?"

Irina sighed and looked resigned. "No, not really." She spoke quietly. "She respects you and Bella, but she just can't seem to help herself. She keeps giving courting gifts."

Christy went quiet as her suspicions were confirmed. She stared out at the road for a while.

"Christy?" Irina sounded concerned.

"I don't want to take advantage of her." Christy spoke softly, thinking of the vampire that had been alone for a thousand years. There was no mate coming for Tanya soon that Christy knew about.

"And that's your first response to this?" Irina let out a long breath. "My god, how could she resist? Even now, instead of getting angry or worrying about a 'threat' to your current relationship, you're worried about Tanya."

Christy turned to face Irina, who was still driving toward the car dealerships. "Tanya has been nothing but good to us and she isn't pushing for something in return. She doesn't deserve my anger."

"Even if I say it's your relationship she's fascinated by, and that includes your Bella?" Irina asked slowly, as if unable to resist asking but afraid she was causing trouble.

Christy didn't even blink as those words registered in her mind. "I'm not afraid." She muttered, thinking that Tanya would never hurt her like that. It highlighted the fact that she just trusted Tanya, completely. "This conversation just never happened." Christy made up her mind. "I'll be gentle and I'll try to not take advantage, but I can't, I just can't,"

"You can't hurt her?" Irina asked after a long silence after those words.

"No, I can't." Christy sighed. Tanya had a crush on a couple, and she felt bad for her. In her last life she might have explored that, but here, with Bella, it wasn't likely. Bella was too innocent for that kind of a relationship.

"Thank you. She seems so strong, but she's got a very fragile side to her." Irina sounded a little choked up and Christy patted her hand gently.

"What do I do?" Christy asked for advice.

"Take the gifts and don't make a big deal of it. Let her hide them as part of what a leader does, and it'll run its course. She can easily afford this until it runs its course." Irina told her and Christy felt a little odd, because some 'infatuations' never 'ran their course'. Annie was proof, there had always been something there.


	12. Chapter 12

Fairbanks, Alaska 

"Well, it's a good thing Bella was firm with Alice." Tanya said as she opened a box they'd found in the garage. "Skirts wouldn't do well here. It gets far below zero in the winter and Bella made Alice stick to warm clothes for the Arizona girl." Christy watched as Tanya held up some warm winter longjohns before putting it back in the box. Of course it still had tags on it, they had put these clothes right into a box once they had them. "So we found some of her things, are you thinking the master bedroom for her?"

"It has its own fireplace, I think she'll want that." Christy grabbed a box of Bella's books to bring with them. "This place is pretty nice, but do you know if they get power outages around here? I might need to go make some firewood."

"The firewood is already stocked for the winter. I managed to remember how cold this place will be for her." Tanya gave Christy a small smile as they made their way inside human slowly. The furniture was being delivered and the men were coming in and out of the house with beds, couches, and other things they'd ordered online. It was just the basics, to make the place livable. Christy had managed to keep it to functional and cozy, as well as uncluttered as possible, and therefore also less expensive, to appease her own guilt and Bella's insecurity about accepting gifts.

"You'll need some art for the walls." Tanya sighed as they stepped into the master bedroom with their boxes and took in the large bed and the bookshelf and dresser. It still looked empty of personality.

"We signed up for an art class this Fall, we're going to have art for the walls, plenty of it." Christy smiled, proud of Bella's thinking ahead on that one. It was a class they were sharing, the only one this time.

"It'll give me something to work on in the middle of the night." She talked about the art, but she was also going to spend her nights preparing for testing out of a couple of classes and for extra homework, because she was taking a super full load. If she finished her degree before Bella did she might have time to slip in a Master's degree, or part of one in, before turning her girlfriend. It would at the very least help her fill the long nights while Bella was sleeping.

"That's good. I have some construction going on at the main house, and we'll put in a 'guest house' for your coven." Tanya told her while setting the box down in front of the closet. "That way the ones that sleep can be away from the action and we don't have to be quiet all night."

"That sounds really good." Christy admitted, and was about to say more, but they both heard footsteps in the hall.

"We almost finished unloading." A man told them as he stepped into the room. "If you want to show us where you want the sofa we could put it in place for you, it's a bit heavy for you ladies, we better make sure you like where we put it." He smiled, and Christy did her best not to smirk at his kind offer.

"Sure," She put her box down and followed him out into the living room. They worked out the layout and she watched Tanya tip the men well, before they left. Once the delivery truck was gone, Christy shared a brief smirk with Tanya and they raced through the house moving boxes quickly and unloading as fast as they could. Bella had left to get her schoolbooks when the furniture just got here, and she was about to be stunned by the fact she didn't have to unpack.

"She's still not home?" Tanya glanced outside again while they moved into the living room to sit on that 'heavy' sofa.

"She went to a bookstore alone. I expected it to take a while." Christy turned the TV on. "She's picking up my textbooks, hers and I'll bet she'll have half the literature she needs to read for her entire program. She was talking about the used bookstore near the campus on her way out."

Tanya chuckled. "So what's on?" They found something to watch in nice companionable silence. Once Bella got home she was apologizing for taking so long and promising to help. Christy and Tanya smiled at each other as Bella's words faded away.

"You already unpacked everything?" Bella asked, her voice stunned, from the door to the garage.

Bella came into the living room and sat down heavily on a chair. Christy could see the smile and energy coming off of her. "I got a job today." Bella smiled even wider.

"You don't have to work." Tanya spoke up, but Christy let her own smile show she understood.

"Good, where?" Christy told Bella and spoke more quietly to Tanya, "She needs to feel like she has some control over her money, it's just the way she is." She didn't add that if she didn't get her money from the pockets of her meals she'd look for a job herself. Having some cash on hand, without having to ask for it, was nice. Tanya paid for the house, the furniture, the cars, the heat, the electricity, basically all the bills. She said it was a coven house and she ran the coven bank account. Christy let her pay for it all, but she wasn't going to ask for money to go to the movies.

"The campus bookstore." Bella beamed.

"Oh god, we don't have enough bookshelves for you to work there." Christy said in fake dismay.

"Shut up." Bella chuckled. "I start next Monday." Which was after Tanya was leaving, the Denali wanted to stay until everything she'd ordered got to the house and tomorrow the woodstove was being installed, a big one large enough to heat a good deal of the house if needed. They weren't risking Bella's health on anything that could go out, like electricity. Fairbanks got cold enough to kill humans in the winter, if they weren't protected and heated.

"Oh good, you can give me a lift in to take my CLEP." Christy told her. "I'm testing out of English 101 Monday. I figured I could borrow your textbooks for the weekend to refresh." Bella's truck was still at the mechanics, so Bella was borrowing Christy's new jeep for now.

"How many classes are you going to have done before we even start?" Bella asked even as Tanya was chuckling at the look on her face.

"Just two." Christy told her, "I majored in Psychology, I am testing out of Psych 101, my pride won't let me not do it, and English is a simple one."

"Don't draw too much attention to yourself trying to skip the basics Christy." Tanya warned her good naturedly. It wasn't really necessary to warn Christy, she knew how to not draw attention to what she was doing better than even a vampire.

….

Once Tanya left, Christy found herself living alone with her girlfriend. They had the privacy they'd never had before. She wasn't sure if Bella had any plans for that, but Christy did make a nice meal while Bella called her mother to tell her about the 'apartment', the new job, and about the classes she'd signed up for. She also lit the new fireplace and put on nice soft dinner music. Okay, she was trying to gently start a seduction, Christy admitted that to herself. She'd been with Bella as a couple for four months now, and they hadn't had enough privacy to go very far, not with Bella being shy and knowing how good everyone else's sense of smell and hearing was. They'd made out, they'd kissed, and Bella had put out enough pheromones to tempt a nun while they did it, but the clothes had never come off and they hadn't had sex. The sex had to be Bella's idea, but Christy was willing to let Bella know she was open to it tonight, she'd hunted recently, just before the move here and she was in enough control to take her human's virginity tonight if the opportunity came.

Once Bella hung up she smiled at Christy who put a plate down on the dining table. "Smells great."

"Good, I thought it might, but my sense of smell isn't the same." Christy started to sit down across from Bella at the table when the phone rang. Bella started to get back up. "No, I got it." Christy told her gently, but when she got to the phone and saw an area code that wasn't Alaska or Forks her smile faded a little. She picked it up. "Hello."  
"Hi, I want to talk to Bella." A soft vampire voice spoke and Christy glanced over at Bella in front of her warm plate of food, and considered what she'd been thinking about while Bella was on the phone with her mother. She knew why Alice was calling.

"I'm going to take this in the office." Christy smiled at Bella. "You enjoy dinner and I'll be right back."

"Kate?" Bella asked.

"It's a nosy vampire alright." Christy muttered and walked out of the room with the cordless phone. "Okay, did you see danger or something you just didn't like?" Christy asked a hint coldly as she got to the office.

"Are you keeping me away from her?" Alice asked indignantly.

"No, I'm going to give her the phone after she's eaten a nice warm meal, but I'm talking to you first." Christy told the psychic vampire on the phone firmly. "Did you call because she's in danger or because you don't like my plans for the evening?"

The silence on the phone spoke volumes.

"Do I hurt her? Do I make her bleed or break her bones?" Christy pushed on a little ruthlessly. "Do I give her painful bruises?"

"No." Alice growled, "But you could, you could. Why are you risking it? I heard you've never been with a human before, and it took Tanya a long time to learn how." She protested louder. "Just because I don't see it, doesn 't mean it won't happen. If she bumps your mouth with her arm, or you lose control for even a moment you could kill her."

"I can do it." Christy spoke slowly. "I'm not a little newborn Alice, I'm not a savage either. I have the experience needed to be gentle, to be loving. I know what I'm doing."

"We love her." Alice protested. "It's hard enough to trust you living with her, but this, this is too much. None of us could do this, how can I trust you?"

"Didn't anyone tell you what Bella did before the battle?" Christy asked, a little irritated that she had to bring this up. "She asked me to open a vein and let her bleed on me, so that the newborns would be so distracted I could kill them easier."

"What?" Alice whispered.

"Yes, right before a battle I had her bleeding arm around my neck, and she touched my face. I never ever went for her. I've taken her hunting when I went for deer, she was never in danger. I am in control Alice, complete control." Christy's words only got stunned silence.

She spoke more gently into the silent phone, "Let her make her own decisions. I do. Bella and I watch out for her safety, and if the issue is large we have the coven. Warnings are fine, we appreciate that, but you didn't see anything."

"How did you, you haven't been a vampire for long, how did you?" Alice asked after a long pause, and she sounded so much smaller, unsure. It was how Christy knew her issues with this vampire weren't going to be lasting much longer.

"I'm not a normal vampire. I don't know if its because of that or because I have had to learn to control every aspect of myself, but I do things that Tanya says are unusual."

"You said you hunted a deer?" Alice asked, and the hint of suspicion that had been a part of every word Alice said to Christy during her visit with Bella wasn't there. There was a bit of hope that Christy was about to crush though.

"Bella says she wants to live off animals when she's turned. I thought she should see how that looks, so I took her out with me. I don't want her making such a huge, irreversible decision like this without knowing as much as she possibly can about what she's getting. I told her I'd turn her, but she'd have to do homework and learn everything she could about what she could be, human or vampire, and once she had that if she wanted my venom, I'd give it to her. I'm not letting her make a decision like this based purely on emotion, I want her to be able to defend her decision against any vampire that thinks she chose wrong. She understands why I'm asking for that, and she's agreed to do things that make her very uncomfortable so that she can get a good idea of what she's asking for."

"And she's taking it seriously, she's open to the idea that she might not choose this?"

"Would you have seen a decision if she made it earlier? I started training her in November."

"It's still fuzzy, like she isn't sure." Alice told her.

"Because there is a very big last step in the training and she is determined to finish what I've started with her. She wants it, but she knows that last step might make her change her mind."

"What is it?"

Christy sighed. "You'll see if she decides to ask for it." She didn't want to ruin any of her progress with the psychic vampire by admitting she could end up taking Bella out on her hunting trips. "A lot of this is up to Bella. I make her make her own decisions, because she used to be able to do that but Edward put her down so much she had no confidence in her ability to think or feel right. She's grown a lot, and she'll keep growing, because I'm not caging her."

"He wasn't trying to cage her." She protested, and in her tone it was clear that Alice hadn't given up hope that Bella would join the Cullen coven through Edward.

"He nearly destroyed her, because 'he knew best' and she was too stupid to know what she was talking about. I will never treat her like that. She deserves respect and she wasn't getting it." Christy spoke firmly. "I love her, as she is and as she will be and I don't cage her."

"But you are pulling her into the darkest part of us."

"And how did ignoring that part of us serve her with you? Did it keep her safe? " It was a bit of a low blow, but Christy took it. "And how long is that dark part a secret to someone when they become a vampire? Wouldn't it be better to know before waking up hungry?"

Alice had no response. "So I'm going to make love to her tonight, if she wants me to. She's my girlfriend now and it's between us."

"Edward will come back, how to you know she isn't still his?" Alice's words cut like a knife and Christy paused as she made sure she didn't growl.

"He left, he has no claim to her and even though he didn't want her with someone like me, he doesn't get to vote. I'm not going to wait for him, and give him 'first pick', she's a person and the decision will ultimately be hers, and I'm just going to take this time to show her why I'm the better choice. I am the better choice." She just shook her head in disbelief as she hung the phone up. Alice had really put a damper on her mood.

"What did Kate want?" Bella asked as Christy put the phone back.

"Oh, it was Alice." Christy gave Bella a small smile.

"What happened?" Bella's voice was deeper and her eyes stared into Christy's.

"She didn't like my plans for the evening." Christy admitted quietly and watched Bella's face show surprise as she looked around and seemed to also notice the music.

"Oh," Bella's eyes widened, "Really?" She paused. "We're alone." It was like she was putting it all together and the look in her eyes told Christy Bella had liked her plan for the evening.

"Alice is having trouble accepting me, us, and you may have to talk to her about it."

"I will," Bella stood up and moved to her, "After, I'll talk to her after." Bella's smile grew a little wicked. The human became more insecure in her bedroom as they made their way toward the bed. "I don't know what to do."

"I thought you already said I was going to get to teach you?" Christy leaned in to kiss her. The idea no longer made Christy uncomfortable. A dark part of her enjoyed that Alice didn't get what she wanted. She claimed her girlfriend with tenderness and gentleness, and she put her scent all over her. It was a vampire instinct that she let run free in her desire to make Bella hers, truly and fully hers, as she caged the darker ones.

…

Denali, Alaska

"Christy's using my Sociology book to study so she can test out of the class." Bella told Tanya, with a hint of a good natured grumbling in her voice.

"I took that class years ago, I just needed a refresher." Christy yelled out from the living room to where Bella was cooking for the two eaters in the coven. She'd done all her own homework and read that Sociology book at night.

"How many classes are you going to test out of?" Leah asked quietly, and there was a hint of respect in the question.

"That will be my third one. I'm going to stop at five, max. Any more than that and I might end up drawing too much attention." She paused, "So I'll start working on my Master's Thesis after that."

"You aren't in a Master's program."

Christy grinned. "I'm going to be. I'm bored at night and so I'm going to try and 'graduate' early to spend the last year Bella's in school working on an MFA," Seeing Leah's confused look she added more, "A Masters in Fine Arts, creative writing. It looks great and with that I can write and maybe even teach online. It gives me options." Her voice dipped to be more serious. "I get really bored at night, I have to stay quiet for her so she can sleep and I don't really have any good hobbies. Rather than watch TV for hours I'm trying to do something."

"If that makes you happy." Leah sighed. "College isn't really where I want to put my time in."

"Not now, maybe in the future." Christy wanted Leah to leave that open. "What are you doing with your time?"

"Well, right now I'm training, and I'm helping with the guest house. It'll be for us you know, so I help come up with ideas and stuff." Leah smiled just a little. "I made sure they got you a nice soaker tub, they say vampires like those."

"Thanks." Christy thought it was a little adorable how Leah was spending her time. "If there is anything you want to learn, if it's college or even a yoga class, you do it. We have way too long to live to not try and pick up all we can."

"You think I'll have a long time?" Leah's eyes were wide.

"Sure, you learn to fight well enough to not get killed, and you keep shifting you should be around a good long time. Your dad said you don't age if you shift and there are plenty of vampires around to make sure you keep that wolf gene active." Christy smiled softly. "So you need to start thinking about what you want these next ten years to be like, and we'll worry about the rest after that."

Bella stepped into the room. "Are you about to start giving Leah homework?" She teased. "Watch out, she gives killer homework when she's trying to get you to plan out your life. I wasn't sure if she was training me to be a vampire or a reporter."

"Well, you need something to fall back on." Christy mumbled a sarcastic reply. "Lois Lane if you can't be Superwoman." A few chuckles filtered down to her from around the house.

"Irina's picking up a cake." Leah told Bella, ignoring the homework comment entirely. "Nineteen, you must be shocked you made it."

"Sometimes." Bella grimaced and looked around at the small pile of gifts with some obvious discomfort.

"Everyone, don't forget there is to be a human bloodletting in an hour. Come hungry and be ready!" Christy yelled out while smirking evilly at Bella.

"Christy." Bella growled at her and Christy just chuckled.

"I get the leg." Tanya yelled out loud enough that Bella started to blush.

"Really, we get to eat Bella?" Kate's teasing was clearly sexual and that blush went redder. "I'll get what's between the legs."

"Kate, that's mine." Christy pretended to growl and then moved closer to Bella. "If it would make you feel better we can cut you 'before' you open presents this time." Christy moved closer and pulled Bella into a hug. "Everything will be okay." She spoke softer into Bella's hair.

"You're a little bit of an ass sometimes." Bella pouted.

"Yep, but you aren't scared anymore, are you?" Christy revealed her evil plan and then gave Bella a soft kiss. "I hope you like the autopsy kit I bought you. It's time for more homework."

"You didn't." Bella paled.

"No, I didn't." Christy admitted. "But I was thinking about our homework. It might be time to do something rather sad, so let's not talk about it today."

"What are you thinking?" Bella asked, her expression serious.

"You want to never forget how important life is. I've got a plan for that." Christy didn't elaborate. She'd found a place they could go, and she wasn't looking forward to this little glimpse of humanity either. Some people had to identify their loved ones after they died, and the pain in that building would probably kill an empath, but they were going to learn to think about the aftermath of taking a life. "I won't make you do anything I'm not willing to do myself." Was all she told Bella and then did her best to draw Bella into a conversation about their classes.

When Irina came back with the cake Bella went out to help her bring it in. "Why are you still giving her homework? She's made up her mind." Tanya asked quietly.

"Because I want her to really know what she's getting into and she asked me to promise her she'd never forget about how important life is." Christy sighed. "And because she might be raked through the coals by the Cullens when they learn she decided to do this, that it wasn't because she was dying and I want her to be able to defend this decision."

"What are you going to do?" Tanya didn't sound like she expected it to be a good thing, and it wasn't.

"We're going to watch people learn that their loved ones are dead." Christy admitted and watched even Tanya blanch at that. "Alice accused me of showing Bella the darkest parts of what we are, but we have to show her. It isn't fair to let her buy the ticket when she doesn't know where the plane is going."

"If you're showing her that, I want to show her some of the good things." Tanya said after a moment. "I've seen history unfold and met amazing people that you read about in history books. I want to show her that side as well."

"Then do it." Christy gave Tanya a small smile. "I've only seen the darker sides of this life, and I've been defined by death for so very long, if you can give her something else, do it."

"Okay, okay I will." Tanya started to smile just a little. "I'll find my pictures and I'll share my stories." She seemed to become just a bit happier. "I was in Italy during the Renaissance. I met Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton during the Suffragette years."

"Those sound like interesting stories, but I don't know if she knows enough history, or even if I do, to fully understand what you tell us."

"You want me to play teacher." There was an interesting, sexual, undercurrent which Christy didn't dare comment on, because her immediate responses were dirty and inappropriate, especially knowing how Tanya felt.

"Irina, what kind of cake did you buy?" Christy asked as that blonde stepped into the house, a little grateful for the distraction.

"I got an ice cream cake, rather than get cake and then ice cream. It's all in one."

"And it looks delicious." Bella added as she stepped inside as well.

The next day they left in the afternoon for the drive back to Fairbanks. "Tanya's done so much in her lifetime." Bella said once they were a few miles away, and she sounded awed.

"Hey, I've done a lot too." Christy pretended to pout. "I killed a potential pope that would have set human rights back horribly, you want to hear that story? Or how about when I toppled a corrupt government?"

"Oh I'm sure you have stories." Bella smirked as she patted Christy's arm as if patronizing her.

"Cute, really cute." Christy sighed.

…..

Fairbanks, Alaska 

Christy parked the Jeep and stared at the building. She could see someone leaving with a hand over their mouth and their shoulders shaking. She could hear some sobs and she glanced over at Bella to see Bella had noticed as well. Even knowing how important this step was, Christy spoke. "Maybe we could start off slower and attend a few funerals to get you ready." Bella did look uncomfortably pale.

Bella took a deep breath and spoke. "You said you wanted me to see this, so I would always remember why I don't want to be a human drinker, why I should be careful. I need to remember. I can't ever let myself kill some innocent. If I ever HAVE to resort to human, I need to be selective like you are. I can't just let my hunger make me do something horrible."

"That doesn't mean we have to jump into the deep end of the pool if you're not ready." Christy offered, watching the nervous sweat on Bella's forehead at the idea of going into the morgue. "One thing I can tell you is they won't let us in to see the dead people. We're just going to see the people after they've identified the bodies. I'm used to seeing dead people, but I know better than to drag you into that just yet."

"Good, that's good." Bella muttered and Christy watched Bella open the Jeep door, seeming to get over some of the nervousness. "I can do this." It seemed like self talk and Christy just got out of the Jeep herself and locked it. It was a sunny and very cold day, but Christy only had to use her powers to cover her face, which she'd learned how to do, that and her other hand. She couldn't cover her whole body so she didn't glitter in the sun, but she could cover enough for Alaska if she had long sleeve shirts, and it wasn't even suspicious.

It didn't take a minute before Christy could hear that Bella was cold, and she made sure to hurry them toward the door. Fairbanks was horrible in the winter, especially for someone that thought Forks got cold.

"You can do this." She reassured Bella as they made their way to the doors. It was going to be a very hard afternoon and Christy straightened her shoulders and marched into the building. They'd camp out in the waiting area, it was as close as they could get to the viewing room and Christy spent two horrible hours whispering what was going on in the other room so she would know who was identified, what the relationship was, and Bella got to witness the pained and shocked faces as the people came out. There were four identifications that day, which was probably a pretty busy day. It was an accident that took out four people, so once one was identified they had a quick succession of pain following it.

"Let's go." Christy told her when she noticed someone who worked there was giving them odd looks for just sitting there, when it wasn't clear why they would be there. "This assignment is over." She let him overhear that. Hopefully someone would assume they were taking the Death and Loss class at the University, because it seems like that was what they were doing today.

Bella was very quiet on the drive back. She turned down the offer to go out to eat, saying she wasn't hungry. Christy pulled up to the house and into the garage in silence. "I'm sorry." She spoke softly as she turned off the car.

"We're doing this for me, it's good. I know I need to do this. I probably should do this a few more times. I don't want to forget." Bella told her and Christy was surprised that Bella was even considering doing that again. "Maybe some of the funerals you talked about." Bella went on to say. It became very obvious how determined Bella was to have control of her bloodlust and Christy gave her a small smile and a nod, understanding. It hurt, but it was the kind of pain Bella would be able to hold onto in the heat of a moment and she'd been right, Bella needed that.

"I think this is why Carlisle has such good control." Bella whispered. "He sees people dying and the families, and he sees them as they fight for their lives. He worked in the ER, it had to be like this."

"That might be it." Christy said, surprised she hadn't really considered that. "It would certainly help."

"Yes, it helps." Bella opened the car door, but she looked run down and exhausted, so Christy couldn't feel too good about their day.

"And a comedy on TV with a bag of popcorn might help now." Christy offered as she met Bella at the door to the house.

"After a shower." Bella offered, but her watery eyes concerned Christy. She pulled Bella into a hug once they were inside and warm. Bella clung to her and Christy could smell some tears escaping the human.

"If I ever ask for something that is too much, even if it's just too much for that day, say no Bella. I'm desensitized to an alarming level, I know that. I don't want to traumatize you." She whispered into Bella's hair.

"Did you have a hard time like this? When it was new?" Bella asked and Christy pulled out a chair at the dining table.

"I was in shock when I first started seeing dead people. It wasn't like this, it was extreme." Christy remembered the houses with suicide victims in them, she'd run across them as she was seeing if the people who had left had left any food. "I found them in their houses." She spoke a little flatly, "And then there was my mother, I had to bury her. And I was burying children, and other people that died. There was so much death Bella, so much that I couldn't process it normally." Bella moved to sit across from her at the table, so clearly she wanted more of an answer. Her eyes were watery, but they were also compassionate and Christy took a breath before speaking more quietly. "When I found the first body I was a little shocked, but part of my mind just said, 'I guess she didn't want to wait for it.' because we were all dying, we knew it. It's different here. I checked and that asteroid isn't out there." She paused and admitted something she'd thought about after she'd been chased away from the X-mansion for what she'd done in her home world. "Maybe that is why I even came up with the idea to turn the bastards that tried to rape Tracey into food. I was so desensitized by then, but still I cried and threw up when we did it. I didn't let me men see me do it, but I did."

"So you started out by killing monsters." Bella reached out and gently pet Christy's arm. Christy knew she'd have tears if she could, Bella's acceptance of this was so beautiful, so needed, it made something inside of her ache to have it.

"Yes, but I can't say everyone I killed that year was a monster Bella. Some of them just hung out with monsters, and I didn't feel I had any other choices." She couldn't let Bella think she hadn't killed innocents, she wasn't going to lie again and have it come back to her. She didn't want to have her or the Denali's turn their back on her and so she needed to be the one that said these things. "I had to torture a group of men once, it was horrible and I still can't remember everything about what I did, but I remember enough to know that it was a blessing that I lost some of that memory. That was the first time I had to hurt people, I'd kill them sure, but I killed quickly and as mercifully as I could, but I was stuck. I was about to be caught for feeding my people humans, and I did horrible things to try and cover that up because I knew they wouldn't eat what I brought if I didn't and they'd die. It turned out to only buy me a few weeks if that, I made their last minutes of life hell for next to nothing and it was that memory more than anything that disgusted the Xmen so much they decided to try and cage or kill me." Bella held her hand. "As a spy I've had to do things like that again, and I did it because I had little time and lives were at stake, but I never did get over that. I act like it doesn't bother me, but I really prefer fast kills." Christy shook her head. "But I shouldn't bother you with this now, my experience wasn't normal and you are reacting the way normal people do, you aren't in shock and this is what it's like when you aren't numbed by the end of the world."

"Never think you 'shouldn't bother me' with something Christy." Bella's tears fell from her eyes again. "It's horrible what you went through, but never feel like you can't tell me about it. I'm your girlfriend and I want to be there for you. I want to hear these things if you want to talk about them. Do you understand?"

"Okay." Christy sighed shakily. "I can do that, if you promise to tell me if I'm giving you new nightmares, because I don't want to do that."

"I'll take the nightmares so you don't have to carry this alone anymore."

"I love you." Christy whispered without even thinking about it and Bella got up to hug her, and pulled her up onto her feet.

"I think we could use some cuddle time, don't you? I know I'd feel better if you held me." Bella asked with a hint of insecurity, but Christy made sure to agree quickly. If Bella needed to be held, she wanted the human to ask.

The cuddling was sweet and tender, but after being faced with mortality like she was, it didn't surprise Christy when Bella sought out intimate touches and soft kissed turned into passionate ones. Their clothing didn't survive being taken off of them, but it seemed to make Bella even more frantic, hearing them rip, so Christy thought it was a small price to pay for the animalistic passion in her girlfriend.

After sending Bella's heart rate rocketing three times, Bella's heartbeat was finally slowing down. Christy smiled gently as she laid back on the bed and the human curled up against her. The feel of warm skin molding to her body was nice and the smell of the room was potent. "My god." Bella muttered quietly and Christy's smile grew at the words. "What do you do to me?"

"A lot apparently." Christy teased.

"Yes, you do." Bella started to caress Christy's chest, running her fingers gently along Christy's breastbone. "It's not fair, you don't have to breath."

Christy smirked. "Your warm breath feels better than you realize if you think that's a drawback."

"Does it now?" Bella's growing confidence in sex was actually fun to watch, Christy thought as her human lover crawled down her body to blow that warm air over her sex.

"Dammit, Bella. Teasing isn't fair or safe." Christy growled out as she did her best to brace her legs so they wouldn't move and hurt Bella. She had to really make sure to be careful when Bella tried to please her.

"Don't move." Bella said in a seductive voice before moving her lips to caress Christy's sex and Christy repeated those words in her mind constantly as Bella showed her how much she'd learned in just a couple months of making love. Once Bella was vampire, this was going to be explosive if it was this good now, Christy thought as she tipped over the edge. It almost hurt to try and not move in those moments, but what she thought was a minor shift in position would send Bella flying.

Being forced to hold herself so still was a little like self-imposed bondage, and Christy found she enjoyed that a little bit more than expected. When Bella moved up next to her again, Christy pulled her into her arms, and kissed her gently. "You are amazing." She whispered into Bella's ear.

"That is huge praise coming from my vampire." Christy could feel Bella's smile on her cheek, as Bella kissed it.

"And if he comes back, you'll still be my human?" Her voice was quiet, soft, and she could hear the hint of hope and doubt. She had tried to never ask this question, but in spite of what they did with their day it was going so well.

Bella shifted to lean on her arm and stared down at Christy, a hint of a frown on her lips. "I won't leave you for him Christy. He can beg and I won't do it. I thought you knew."

"You really fell apart when he left." Christy said slowly, explaining her thoughts.

"Yes, and you put me back together again." Bella kissed her. "You don't have to worry Christy, you're my vampire now."

"He will beg." Christy told her, and watched human eyes soften as Bella caressed hair out of Christy's face.

"He should beg, but that won't make a difference. Part of me will always love him, but I am with you." Bella smiled just a little.

"It won't be much longer and you'll have to tell him that." Christy felt the afterglow of sex fading fast at this conversation. "I can't imagine he'll last much longer, and it'll be torture sitting back and letting you deal with it."

"You'll do that?"

"He's your ex, I can't do it for you." Christy caressed Bella's hair. "But I'll want to, I'll try my best to let you deal with it."

"Thank you." It earned her a kiss. "See, that's why you're my vampire and he isn't. That right there. You let me deal with things if I should be the one to do it. You make me stronger, just by being with me. He always made me weaker." Bella's words did so much, it was the perfect reassurance and Christy smiled and held her human just a fraction tighter.

…

Forks, Washington

"So, Christy, how is college going for you?" Charlie asked awkwardly over the table and Christy did her best not to grimace at the fact she was the center of attention. She was having to eat and Bella was not being too helpful. She was amused. Christy was thinking of letting Bella hold her hair when she had to throw up later.

"I'm doing pretty well. I like my classes and I've found a Master's program I want to try and get into after I'm done with my BA in Creative Writing. I could write or teach with that, but honestly, the classes just look so fun I want them." She smiled at him and took the moment to not try and eat or hide her food if she was lucky enough for him to not be looking at her at the time. She had a lapful of napkin with food in it, and sadly several bites in her stomach. She'd have to hunt after this, definitely. Maybe she could skip the plane ride back and grab someone in Bellingham or Canada on her way home by foot.

"Doing pretty well." Bella chuckled. "Charlie, she's tested out of five classes and she's taking a super full load. She'll be a sophomore when we go back. When she says she wants the Master's program she means while I finish my Bachelors. She's on a superfast track I couldn't even dream of. She'll graduate in the middle of my Junior year if she keeps to her plan."

"Wow." His eyes widened and he turned to look at her. "What's the rush?"

"I started late." Christy lied. "I started a few years late, but I studied some things during that time and kind of did college stuff on my own so I can pump it out now. I'd like to get my degrees before my money runs out and then I could get a good job, one I like, while writing." She could see from his expression she was winning major points, which was good, she needed them. He was fully aware that they were living together now and hadn't been too friendly up until now, not rude, but just awkward and unhappy with the situation.

"What kind of job are you thinking of with that degree?" He asked, and this was now officially the longest conversation they'd ever had.

"Well, I'll write, but I could teach at a community college too. If I teach online, it won't even cut into my writing time much and I'll have a regular paycheck while I wait for things to sell. Online I could teach at several schools, they wouldn't even need to be nearby."

"Christy will make a great teacher." Bella smirked just a little.

"A teacher, like your mother, only for the big kids." He smiled as he apparently was teasing Bella just a little about that.

"Mom teaches little kids." Bella told her, but Christy had been told that before. She just nodded and smiled. Dinner overall went much better after that, but Christy was pulled into the conversation more and had to eat more.

As they made their way up to Bella's room, Christy sighed heavily. "I should make you hold my hair while I throw up. You were almost laughing at me."

"You have to throw up?" Bella's smile faded and she looked concerned.

"I don't have the ability to digest food anymore." Christy grimaced. "It'll be okay, just let me have the bathroom first? I feel like I ate a brick."

"Sure, sure, go before Charlie comes upstairs. We don't need him thinking you have a 'problem'." Bella gave her a kiss before pushing her toward the bathroom. "I'll cover you for breakfast somehow." Bella promised. Bella managed to deliver on that too, because the next morning, no one was watching her eat, so she could dump it all.

The day after Christmas they were lounging around when the phone rang. Christy paused the movie so Bella could answer the house phone. "Hello?" Bella asked and Christy froze as she heard her repeat that. Bella hung up and Christy smiled at her as she started to return to the living room, but the phone rang again.

"Look, crank calls are not funny." Bella said answering the phone again, but Christy's instincts proved to be good when a vampire voice spoke up.

"Bella, Edward has just decided to come back to Forks. He called and you were there and he wants to see you again. I saw it will take him a day to get there." Alice told Bella and Christy just turned the tv off completely. "If you don't want your father to know all about everything, which you shouldn't, you can't be in Forks for this. He won't take this well, and really he should hunt before finding you."

Christy growled a little at that line, seeing that he thought he was coming back to be reunited with Bella he shouldn't come hungry, but he was being stupid. Bella's heart started to beat faster.

"I can switch our tickets to tonight, or tomorrow morning instead of tomorrow afternoon." Christy offered softly, as she watched her girlfriend just freeze while on the phone.

"Tomorrow morning could work, if you're out of Forks by noon and you can't be in the airport between 10 and 11, or it'll be even worse." Alice told Bella, clearly responding to Christy's comment.

"Denali, we'll go to Denali." Bella finally spoke up. "We need our coven." She sounded a little shaky and Christy moved up behind her and pulled her back up against Christy for a hug. "Alice, how badly will he react? If he attacks Christy, she is going to defend herself. I won't have her hurt because of me again. I won't ask her to go so easy on him he has a chance to hurt her."

Christy took a shaky breath at Bella's comment, and could hear the sharp intake of breath on the other side of the phone.

"I'll get someone to make sure he hunts first, that will help. I can't do it, I'll have to stay away until he calms a little, because the minute I'm in range he'll see I've been talking to you, he'll know what I know and at that point things will be hard to predict."

"When he comes, can you come too?" Christy asked. "If he feels alone in this, he might be more desperate."

"I think we might need everyone." Alice admitted.

"Okay." Bella whispered. "I can do this, I can." It was sad, the pain in her voice.

"I love you, I'll do everything I can to make this easier on you." Christy promised.

"So will I." Alice added after a long pause.

"Okay, we need to call Leah, she's in town too, and maybe Seth wants to visit for a bit."

"Ugh, I hate it when you have Leah around, I can't see anything." Alice grumbled.

"She's my coven as well, we'll have to make do." Bella said. "Thanks for the warning Alice."

"School starts again in February." Christy reminded them. "It might be a good idea to only stall this a few days, because if you don't want him chasing us home we need it resolved."

"Damn, there goes the hope he can't find us." Bella sighed. "Okay, give me a few days if you can, but let's do this." She told Alice. After that the call was over.

"I did not want to do this now," Bella gave a sad sounding and slightly hysterical laugh after hanging up. "Maybe after I was a vampire, but I don't think I wanted to do it then either."

"Well, after this is all out, Alice can visit you without having to worry about keeping this a secret. You'll like that." Christy offered a bright side and just got an odd look for her efforts.

"You will not let any Cullen hurt you because you think I want them to not get hurt. Not ANY Cullen." Bella sounded like she was scolding her. "If anyone takes your other arm I don't think I could handle it, even if you regrow them."


	13. Chapter 13

Christy and Bella left the airport without any wolves, as Leah and Seth decided to run it. There was time for them, and Christy had Leah's bag, as well as Seth's for his visit. It was a show of force, not that Christy was calling it that, but having the entire coven here was good. It showed how large they were to anyone stupid enough to think they could dictate what Bella did. Christy wasn't interfering directly, she wasn't going to, but an impressive display stopped some stupid people and she was hoping for that here.

It was a little bit of a surprise to see Kate standing by the car waiting for them as they exited the airport. "Tanya's rushing to get the heat hooked up in the guest house, in case you end up needing it. It was enough for a wolfy, but not a poor tender human." She explained while opening up the trunk. Christy made sure to make it look a little difficult to put the bags in there.

"Eleazar ran off to your house to close it up for the month." Kate told them as she drove them toward Denali from the airport.

"Can I ask him to pick up a few things?" Bella asked after a long stare out the window at the snow on the ground.

"Of course, but we'd need to call him soon, before he comes back." She smiled at Bella.

"He can take my Jeep if we need too much to carry." Christy offered.

"He has his car. Something about picking up groceries on the way back." Kate told them and Christy did her best not to grimace at the idea of a vampire hundreds of years old shopping for food. Hopefully he knew what he was doing.

As they worked on the list Bella balked when Christy said, "We'll need at least 7 pair of underwear each."

"I'm not having Eleazar looking at my underwear." Bella sounded stunned Christy had even suggested it and Kate chuckled.

"I assure you he's seen underwear before. Carmen has some lovely pairs of panties that had to have been for viewing pleasure." Kate grinned.

"Well, still, I don't want," Bella stammered and Christy resisted the urge to tease her girlfriend.

"Can we stop by a store and get some new underwear?" She asked.

"Sure, would that be okay Bella? Or I could assure you Eleazar won't sniff your underwear before he brings it to you." Kate was having a lot of fun being wicked, "Or maybe he'll sniff but he won't put them on."

"Store." Bella managed even as she blushed a painful looking red.

Once they parked Christy noticed it wasn't a JC Penney's or other department store they were in front of, they were at a lingerie store. "Have fun." Kate called out as they stepped out of the car, some amusement in her voice. "I'll call Eleazar with that list of things you needed from the house, and warn him not to touch your underwear. Take your time."

Bella's eyes widened once they were inside and could see it wasn't likely they'd find a package of Hanes in here. "Oh man."

Christy leaned into her girlfriend and whispered. "Nice." It was bribery, but Christy gave Bella a wicked smile. "Honey, I'll wear anything you want me to, either soon or after we get back to Fairbanks, if you buy matching sets."

Bella took a long minute to think about what Christy said and Christy enjoyed seeing understanding and some determination come across Bella's expression, the intrigue with the idea was also very nice and Christy hoped that she'd get to wear the new 'outfit' with Bella tonight. "Okay, let's do this."

Bella's smell was embarrassed, but also somewhat aroused as she looked around and made suggestions about what might look good on Christy. Apparently Bella liked Christy in black, because they ended up with some rather elaborate outfit that reminded Christy of the Hellfire club for herself. She was so going to talk Bella into some games after this mess was all over, Christy thought as she noticed how her 'innocent' human wasn't really that innocent anymore.

Christy hated to do it, but after shopping Christy had Kate take Bella home while she went out to hunt. She had planned to hunt before this mess and it was always better to not be hungry if she was going to be intimate with her girlfriend OR face a girlfriend's angry ex-boyfriend. She might be doing both very soon.

By the time she'd made it to Denali, Anchorage was missing three people, she couldn't possibly drink anymore blood, and her wallet was much healthier.

When she walked into the main house, Tanya was sitting on the couch and looked over at her. "I had to order a part for the heater, so Bella's staying here for now." She sighed. "Probably better anyhow that she's with us for this, no one can get her alone and explain how wicked you are, you evil vampire you for eating the slime of the world."

"You think I'll get that?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Normally they aren't too bad, but you have a human living with you and Alice's attitude took me by surprise on that one." Tanya and Christy heard the shifting of Bella in her bed, a heavy flopping over. "She's moving around a bit, I think she's having trouble sleeping."

"Can't blame her." Christy sighed and sat down on the couch for a moment. "And how are you doing? I'm sure the blame for Bella moving on will be spread to you in some way too."

Tanya smiled a little. "Oh, I'm sure Edward will find a way to accuse me of not calling to inform him what Bella was up to, but I can deal with that child's pouting." Tanya took her hand and held it, which Christy didn't pull away from. "They will see reason, eventually. You are a good person Christy and no one that spends any time with you can claim otherwise." Christy didn't bother pointing out that the people she had run to this world to avoid had known her as well. It was nice to hear that at least here, she had a better reputation. "So go, get your scent all over her. I know you're instincts are crying for it." She grinned at Christy and patted her leg as she dismissed her.

"You're back." Bella spoke up in the dark room.

"Yep." Christy smiled and moved to the bed. "So you can sleep now." She teased gently. She sat on the bed with a book in hand and had Bella cuddle up to her and finally fall asleep.

The next morning, Christy helped make breakfast for Bella and both of her wolves. Leah and Seth had come in just in time. "Dad says you're a tricky bastard." Leah smirked as she poured herself a glass of juice. "You never knew the Cullens but had us believing we were just extending the treaty to more of them, you got the better treaty and they know you want to use that loophole, and you 'stole' wolves, and yet no one wants to call you on it."

"I wish I could claim it was all according to plan." Christy leaned against the counter and watched her 'little coven' of breathing and eating people. "But some of that was just luck." And she thanked Annie for that, because these people knew what she was, or had a good idea so far and they all accepted her.

"Hey, can I have some of those eggs?" Seth asked Bella, who knew enough now to take all she wanted before handing it over. "You guys have a sweet house here." Seth called over to Tanya, who smirked at the boy.

"We have a sweet house, all of us. The guest house isn't completely done, but it's designed for you all, you have a room in it." Irina spoke up and walked up behind Leah to wrap her arms around her and look at Seth over his sister's shoulder. "You are both always welcome in the main house. We just aren't willing to tip toe around at night like Christy is, for long periods of time."

"Are we staying over there now?" Seth poured half the bowl of eggs onto his plate while he asked.

"If you want, but the heater isn't going above sixty right now. We ordered a part to try and get that fixed." Irina told them. "Should come soon."

"I think I'll deal with the chilly house." Leah muttered. "I can't imagine the yelling will stop at bedtime." She took the bowl from him and Christy could see the frown on Leah and Bella's face at that.

"Depends on when they arrive." Christy offered. "Even vampires get tired when they are arguing."

"I don't know about that. I've seen Tanya and Kate go at it for hours before." Irina offered with a smirk.

"Great, thanks, I could have used some hope." Christy muttered good naturedly.

"Abandon all hope." Kate called out as she came in the front door, clearly having heard the conversation on her way back from hunting. She had a teasing smile. "Alice says we have incoming. Edward freaked when he smelled that a vampire had been in Bella's house and he latched onto where Bella was going to school from Charlie. He's almost in Fairbanks."

Christy growled a little, thinking that he might be able to find the house from her scent or Bella's.

"Alice has the others with her and they are meeting him there, I think she's trying to keep him from going around town in a blind panic sniffing for either of you." Tanya spoke up as she came in. The two of them had been hunting. "They'll bring everyone here, probably just after lunchtime."

Christy rubbed Bella's shoulders as her human had tensed up. "It'll be okay. Just remember he's created his own misery and he can't blame you for it." She pulled Bella into a hug and held her there, hoping that Bella was ready. She'd been preparing Bella for this since the beginning, but their getting into a relationship made this confrontation so much bigger than it was originally going to be. In the beginning, before they became involved, Christy just wanted to help Bella learn to stand up for herself, so that Edward and the others wouldn't walk all over her again. Now Bella was going to be standing up for their entire coven, even if she didn't realize it yet. "This is an argument, not a battle. No casualties in this one." Christy tried to help Bella keep this in perspective.

There was a tension in the air as they tried to fill the time. The coven was congregating in the main room, and Bella was trying to read, but her pages weren't turning at the same pace they normally did. Christy was grateful that Eleazar had gone by the house the day before, because she had her textbook and she just started going through it, making notes in the margins and highlighting things she knew a teacher would consider good for tests. The class hadn't started, but it was something productive and she really couldn't get into the movie that Leah and Seth were watching. She was ready to start on the next chapter when her highlighter faded to a very pale yellow.

She was about to ask if they had highlighters in the house when Irina spoke softly to Leah, "You know I love you, but we need to crack a window. We're adjusting, but Carlisle and his crowd are going to be a bit stunned by the scent." Christy just managed not to smirk at the topic of conversation.

"I thought you didn't mind my scent." Leah gave the vampire a slight smirk that brought to mind bedroom activities.

"It's grown on me, but we know how other vampires react to it."

Seth spoke up louder, "Hey, Christy, do we stink?" He was clearly teasing.

"Actually, you don't." She answered. "You just smell like wild and wolf, it isn't stinky."

"How kind of you." Kate called out from her place at the dining table, where she was reading some magazine. "You stink kid." She wasn't being cruel in her tone. "You smell like dog, sometimes like wet dog. It could be worse, but it fills a room."

"I don't smell it." Bella finally joined the conversation and Christy gave her a small smile.

"You also don't smell the sickly sweet coming off all these vampires, so I'd say you have it good right now." Leah joked.

"I think Leah's found a great argument for being human." Christy teased. "Make sure to write that one down in the pros column for human." She smiled at Bella as she teased. She than asked anyone in the room. "My highlighter died. Anyone have another yellow one?"

"Sure, it's in the kitchen." Irina started, but Leah interrupted.

"Um, I took that to the guest house, I had the catalogs." Apparently that was supposed to be enough information to explain herself.

"Hey, I could show you the house, it's coming along." Leah stood up quickly, clearly wanting to walk, run or move. The sitting and waiting was getting to a few of them. Christy wanted to say yes, but she glanced at Bella.

"Go, I'm sure Alice will call before they arrive. You can take a quick trip for your precious highlighter." Bella smiled a little tensely, but Christy could see Bella meant it. If she insisted she stayed it would be hovering.

"Okay, won't be long." She smiled and stood up, giving Tanya a quick look so that the coven leader knew to keep an eye on Bella's nerves and distract her if needed. It was almost like the silent conversations she used to have with Mystique, the way Tanya just nodded that she understood.

They had to walk through the snow, and Christy took a moment to focus, because it wasn't that fun to walk in snow that was up to her knees and past her boots. She was getting wet, if not feeling cold. Keeping her left hand down on her left thigh, she envisioned snow shoes and with her next step with her left foot, she found herself not sinking into the snow. She chuckled, and Leah stopped blazing the trail and looked back at her. "What are you doing?"

"I've been training my powers a bit. I'm trying something new." Christy explained and worked harder to try and get a right snow shoe before her next step. "I've got it."

"You create snow shoes?" Leah sounded puzzled. "Odd power."

"I am, or was, a shapeshifter." Christy explained as she took a few more steps, no longer sinking into snow. "I could make clothes too, and that's what I've done. I don't have the full mass for much, but I can do this. I'm also up to being able to walk in the sun if I have to, same principle as making clothes."

"I wish I could make clothes. I have to carry it or end up naked." Leah let out a white cloud of breath. "So let's go. It's a nice place, not tiny at all."

The guest house was clearly along a path that they couldn't see anymore. Christy could tell because there were lamp posts along the trail that Leah was blazing. They made their way through some woods and to a cute house. "Four bedrooms, for all of us, not that you really need one, but it seemed fair." Leah explained as they made their way to the front door. The roof overhang made is so they could stomp the snow off of themselves before heading in.

"I've ordered some furniture, but nothing is coming yet. All we have are some beds, the basics." Leah explained as they walked past an empty main room. Christy got a nice tour of the place and ended up with her highlighter when they walked through a nice kitchen, nicer than the main house. "Unlike the vamps of Denali, we actually use a kitchen." Leah smirked. "This one is killer."

"It is nice." Christy agreed. They slipped outside again and started to follow the broken up snow back to the main house. She was happy to see how nice the place was, her wolf had been busy, as well as Tanya. It seemed those were the two most into this project. As they walked, Christy started to talk to her wolf. "I'm sorry you had to be called back from your trip early. If I didn't think we might need you I wouldn't have interrupted your family time."

"I know Christy." Leah spoke softly and they started walking slower. "I know you would never do that if you didn't feel it was important, and dad's really doing much better. You don't have to worry about that." Leah smiled. "And I have that ticket I was supposed to use to come back, I'll turn it into another trip after we deal with the evil ex. I understand how hard that is and I kind of want to be here for Bella if she needs it. You aren't really, well, you don't cry about an ex to the current flame Christy."

"Thank you." Christy was touched. "I am so glad that my little coven gets along so well. You watch each other's backs and that's what it's supposed to be like."

"You're a pretty good Alpha Christy." Leah smiled while just walking so Christy had to follow. "I'm doing my best to be the best left hand I can be. I'd say right hand, but you need a left one more."

"Really cute. I should show you what my 'left hand' can do." Christy joked back, glad to see her wolf was recovering from that mess. Leah's guilt had been pretty hard to see.

"Your girlfriend might object to that." Leah's smirk grew more wicked. "You walked into that one Christy." Her voice was soft, a little tender with her teasing. Christy knew her wolf respected her, and that she wasn't really hitting on her at all.

"Are things going okay with you and Irina? The species thing is not too much trouble?" Christy asked after bumping Leah off her path to where she had to work to not fall down.

"I didn't know love could be like this. I don't think anything about her bothers me." Leah smiled widely. It wasn't an expression Christy had ever seen on her before she shifted. "I know the whole smell thing is there, but not with her. She's just sweet, not sickly sweet."

"That's good." Christy paused as she heard a growl and turned to see a vampire running at her fast, really fast. "MOVE." Christy called out to Leah even as she found herself bracing for impact.

He hit her hard, that speed helping, and Christy smirked as she rolled back onto the snow and kicked him up into the air, sending him flying far and fast into the trees behind them. "Edward I assume." She asked as she turned to face him. She could see Leah had shifted and stood growling at the male vampire speeding back into view and glaring at her. "Leah, we didn't want this to turn into a fight. How about you call for the others." Christy could yell, but she wasn't sure she could yell and not summon a portal.

"Edward, you idiot!" A high pitched voice called out, and Alice was suddenly there. "Don't challenge her!"

"What have you done to Bella?!" He growled at her and Christy resisted the urge to tell him in graphic detail, she wasn't trying to goad him like she would people in real fights.

"Love her." She spoke softly and could see his shock and then his growing anger.

"She was meant to find a nice human man, marry, have kids. I sacrificed so much for that and you ruined it all!" Edward ran at her again, and Christy dodged easily to the left and then the right, avoiding his attempts to hit her, before she spun, her left hand out and yanked him off his feet and over her head, tossing him away again. The idiot just came at her again, so Christy used her leg to wipe him off his feet and grabbed both of his arms, pulling them back behind him tight, pushing his face and front into the snow. She used enough pressure that it was obvious she could take both arms off with little effort and growled at him.

"She makes her own decisions, and fighting me isn't going to change that." Christy said between gritted teeth as he struggled in her grip. "You can't read me, and that was your main way of fighting, I can tell. Stop before I have to hurt you. Despite what you think, I don't want to do that."

He gnashed his teeth toward her leg, helpless to get enough leverage to actually complete a bite. "Nice, are you going to stomp your feel like a three year old too?" She could see Alice standing helplessly to the side, watching this. She looked frightened and uncertain, which reminded Christy that Leah was here keeping Alice's visions away. She was also growling at the little vampire to keep her away, to keep things even in this 'fight'.

Running sounds made her turn to see a slower but larger vampire rushing toward Leah. "You touch my wolf and I don't care what Bella says, I'll remove your penis and burn it." She growled before tossing Edward through the air at Emmett, the crash between the two stopping him.

"Emmett, Emmett, stop!" Alice yelled and there were vampires coming from all directions toward them. Leah didn't have to howl, Alice managed to draw enough attention to them. "She'll do it, she will." Alice moved to protect Leah, putting herself in front of her, clearly afraid for Emmett if he didn't listen. "STOP fighting!" She called out as Edward started to run forward again.

He didn't get to her, because a blonde male with somewhat shaggy hair tackled him and gripped him hard. Edward seemed to collapse with exhaustion and Christy watched to see if Emmett was going to continue, but he was giving her wide and slightly frightened eyes, so he was not testing what she'd threatened him with.

"Carlisle." Tanya's voice was cold as she stepped forward. "I will not tolerate another attack on my covenmates."

"It won't happen again." Another male spoke up.

Christy looked around to see everyone else was tense. "Bella?"

"I left Seth and Carmen with her." Tanya told her and then glared at Edward again. "I really thought he'd be in three pieces by the time I got out here."

"He's just stupid, not a threat. I didn't want to over react." Christy explained and then dug her highlighter out of the snow where she'd dropped it before taking a step closer to the new coven visiting. "I'm Christy Taylor. Bella's got to be panicking, so we're going back in. If he can't calm down, you calm him and come later. We aren't letting him freak out with a human in the house, am I clear?"

"Who the hell are you?" Rosalie, it was pretty obvious it was her, asked with threat in her eyes.

"She's Christy Taylor, a member of my coven." Tanya growled out. "We are a merged coven, and she's a leader in her own right." Apparently you don't talk to coven leaders like that, Christy thought. "She was attacked, and you almost attacked Leah. Leah is Irina's mate. If Christy didn't kill you for that Irina would have." She addressed Emmett. "And don't think she couldn't, Christy is the best fighter I've ever seen."

She answered and took a deep breath. "Sorry if I seemed rude. Are you under control Edward?" She asked him and he glared at her. "No, okay. You keep working on that and come in when you're ready." She was talking to him like he was six years old and she turned to leave with Leah, and some of the others that came running. Tanya stayed behind and she was pissed. Christy learned more about the protocol for meeting other covens on her way back to the house as Tanya lectured Edward about it than she had since she showed up in this world. Her etiquette lessons were full of reasons why Christy could have killed him and it would have been completely appropriate. Carlisle was apologizing left and right.

"Incoming." Christy warned Bella as she came in the door to see three sets of eyes watching her. "It might take a little while; Tanya's surprisingly good at lecturing misbehaving children."

Bella moved closer to her, eyes wide. "What happened?"

Before answering, Christy pulled Bella into a hug. She only let go when she could feel the cold coming off of her from the snow was making Bella shiver. "Alice and Tanya kept it from escalating and now Tanya's lecturing them about proper protocol when meeting another coven on their own grounds. I think Carlisle might lose his voice apologizing so much for his son."

Leah came in, a bathrobe on her body. "My clothes in the dryer?" She asked. "Lost mine in the yard."

"Yes, there are some more clothes in the dryer, I believe they are done." Carmen told her.

As Leah made her way across the room she spoke to Bella. "He came at us like an asshole, no plans to talk and Christy caught him. I would have ripped his arm off or something at least, but she didn't even hurt him a little."

Bella growled, "He attacked you?"

"Yeah, but he isn't very good at it at all. Like a lot of telepaths he's a little helpless without his powers and they don't work on us." Christy tried to make it sound as insignificant as she thought it was, but Bella still looked livid. She'd seen a few scars on the others from old battles. Leah slipped into the laundry room to get dressed and Christy could hear the others had come closer, but Tanya was still berating Edward in the yard, now explaining that while Christy had the right to kill him for his unprovoked attack, she actually had the skill to do so quite easily and he should thank whatever god he believes in that Christy was merciful. Bella looked about ready to march out there and join her, not realizing that the Cullens were not getting away with anything out there. "I'm fine honey."

"Love you." Christy mouthed to Bella, even as they heard the footsteps on the porch. Tanya opened the door, and led the others inside. It was a bit more subdued group of vampires that entered the house. Bella's body was tense and Christy ached to hold her, but she settled for briefly holding and squeezing Bella's hand. "You've got this and we've got your back." She spoke quietly, knowing everyone could hear her, but she needed to reassure her human.

It didn't escape Christy's attention that Bella had dressed in her more adult clothes and had put some make up on. She was using the skills of 'aging' Christy taught her to look a little older, a little different and to highlight that it had been almost a year and a half since the Cullen's saw her last. Christy approved of the tactic and was a bit proud of Bella for thinking of it herself.

"I guess I should introduce some of my coven, I've a coven of nine now." Tanya spoke calmly, ignoring the impatient way Edward stood or how his eyes didn't even look at her as he stared into the house. Bella stiffened next to her when he came into view and Christy glanced at her girlfriend.

"Bella!" Edward broke loose and he moved quickly into the room.

"Here we go." Kate muttered under her breath as Edward interrupted the introductions. Christy watched as Alice shared a glance with her, resigned looking.

"Hello Edward." Bella spoke up, and Christy noticed how Bella wasn't overly friendly, and her voice was cold. Edward glanced at Christy and glared, starting to move to the side in a classic separating move, trying to put himself between them. "Oh, this is my girlfriend, Christy." Bella spoke up, staring him in the eye. It was clearly a warning of sorts. "Maybe you missed that when you tried attacking her."

"Right, right, we should do introductions." Kate spoke up and Christy hoped the blonde wasn't about to cause trouble. "Christy here was the coven leader living in Forks when we got there." The other Cullens had a hint of apprehension on all their faces. "Strange vamp was,"

"Hunting with Bella?" Edward interrupted loudly, a growl in his voice. His power proved annoying and Christy let out a slow breath to keep herself from snapping at him. After a long glare she refused to acknowledge, he turned to glare at Alice, "How could you not see," he started to berate Alice.

"You mean she was supposed to know when to do what you asked and not check up on me to make sure I was safe and when to break that rule?" Bella snapped at him. "So it was okay that vampires were trying to kill me, but hunting a deer with a vampire that has 'perfect' control was wrong? Tell me, did you ever even think about the fact that you left a coven with a grudge behind to kill me?" Bella's eyes snapped over to Christy. "Christy, how many vampires did you and our coven have to kill to keep me safe after the Cullens abandoned me?"

"Twenty." She didn't elaborate right away, she didn't have to. The pained and shocked gasp from the Cullen's, even Alice was enough of a response. They hadn't given numbers out before. "The Newborn army was a bit larger than expected."

"Newborn army?" Jasper stared at Christy with a hint of shock filling the room, which showed his powers were working. The empath was leaking shock.

"Oh, we totally kicked their asses." Seth spoke up, and insinuating he'd actually been on the ground for that battle, which he hadn't been. "I'm Seth."

"Sorry Seth, Edward didn't let us introduce anyone." Christy took over her introductions, for her little coven. "This is Seth Clearwater and his sister Leah. They are part of our coven, they were with me when Leah imprinted on Irina." She gave a tense fake smile to Carlisle, the man she was addressing as per protocol, even if the others didn't understand it. "We merged covens after that and the rest is history."

"You're La Push wolves, aren't you?" Carlisle asked Leah politely.

Leah glanced over at Christy and Christy nodded, reassuring her she could talk. Leah didn't want to overstep and it was a wolf thing that Christy appreciated. "Yep, but I'm a member of this coven, not the pack."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you dear." Esme spoke up, there was no mistaking the matriarch of the Cullen clan. The woman was a hint nervous and kept looking between Tanya, Christy and Bella. "And Bella, we've missed you dear." Esme took a half step closer, obviously wanting to hug Bella, but Edward was in the way and still staring.

"Well it has been a long time." Bella spoke coldly and Esme flinched. "So much has happened."

"We're so sorry about the vampires Bella, we didn't know. We so would have stayed to kick newborn ass if we'd known." Emmett was huge and sheepish as he spoke up.

"Sorry." Bella's eyes were harsh and Christy could see the anger and the sadness. "If Christy wasn't there you wouldn't be seeing me again at all, you know that Emmett?"

"You were supposed to go on and have a normal human life. This wasn't supposed to happen, I wanted better for you." Edward spoke up, staring into Bella's eyes and Christy watched his pleading.

"And what I wanted for myself? Did that ever matter to you Edward?" Bella had tears on her cheeks now and it was painful not to touch her, comfort her. Christy couldn't make her do it all alone, Christy reached out and took Bella's hand.

Edward growled as he glared at the hand and then his cold and nearly black eyes glared into Christy's red ones. "Get away from her." He demanded. "You're a monster and she deserves better than you, better than us." He glared at her. "I can't read her." He sounded pissed and it wasn't clear who he was talking to.

"I'm a shield, like Bella." Christy offered an explanation that made Carlisle gasp. Christy ignored his demand to leave Bella's side and stared him down.

"Leave her alone Edward." Bella growled. "I decide who gets to be with me, I decide and I've decided."

"But I left you because I love you. I wanted what was best for you." Edward looked horrified. "I wanted you to grow old, have kids, have a normal life and instead you've decided to live in sin with a female monster." He made a mistake at that moment and reached out to grab Bella's arm, clearly planning to pull her away from Christy's side.

"Get your hands off of me." Bella managed a decent growl and he let go, surprised. "You've been gone longer than I even knew you, you have no right to come in here and dictate my life. I picked up the pieces, I moved on, and it isn't up to you if I 'did it right'."

"But you did it wrong, Bella." He snarled. "Human life, that's all I wanted for you and you threw yourself at the first vampire you saw. She's a human drinker! What were you thinking?"

Christy wasn't the only one growling at his words, but Bella stared him down. "Well, you never could tell what I was thinking, could you Edward. I'll tell you what I am thinking right now." It sounded like a threat, Bella's words. She wasn't backing down and quite a few of the Cullen's looked shocked at the confrontation happening. They hadn't seen Bella grow up, and so facing her now was a bit of a shock. Christy felt a wave of pride at her girl for staying strong. "You are an ass." A few Cullen's looked uncomfortable, but Christy noticed Emmett and Rosalie both smirked at the scene developing. "You have always been an ass and I didn't see it before. That human life you wanted for me, marriage and kids, I never wanted that. I didn't want it before I met you, I didn't want it when we were together and now, after having learned as much about it as is humanly possible without doing it myself, I still don't want it. You left me to have a life that I had no desire to have, so I found a life I wanted. Christy, unlike you, asks what I want. Christy came into my life when I was nearly suicidal because I lost what I had thought of as my family and I couldn't talk to anyone about it. She came in and helped pick up the pieces you'd broken and scattered around, and I grew to love her for it, for how she treated me, for who she is. That's what I think Edward."

No one was pretending not to be watching, and Christy watched Edward's body language carefully, to make sure he didn't lash out at her girlfriend. He looked hurt and angry, his body tensing as she watched him. "I left to protect you!"

"And twenty vampires came to kill me. Where was your protection then Edward?" Bella glared. "Christy and Leah got hurt protecting me from the monsters you left behind when you ran. I have no idea how many people in Seattle died because you ran and left Victoria there to hunt me, but it was far over the ones she made. She was going to draw the Volturi to us, to you. Christy saved you when she killed them, and she knew she was doing that." Bella was shooting with both barrels, and Christy watched the anger coming off of her with a little concern. They'd talked it over, Christy had helped pull Bella out of her depression, but the anger apparently never had a target before now.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that." Edward took a step closer and Christy focused on him more, as he pushed into Bella's space, but she didn't interrupt no matter how badly she wanted to, just to push him away. He gave her girlfriend a very tender look that grated on her nerves, and yet she did nothing. Bella needed and wanted to be the one to deal with this, so Christy only watched out for her physical safety and did her best to ignore his obvious attempts to 'dazzle' Bella. "I left because I love you and I wanted what was best for you. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"But it is like this." Bella spoke quieter, but still firmly. "This is what your leaving has done and I'm happy. I have a great coven that loves me, I have a girlfriend that is beyond anyone's imagination, she isn't perfect, no one is perfect. I learned that, but she is as close to perfect as anyone could come." Bella's words became slower, a steady beat of a hammer could almost be heard as she pounded them into him. "She treats me with respect and she cares what I want or think. She tells me things you never would, she trusts me to be a partner even though I'm 'merely human', and doesn't treat me like a child or a pet. So your dazzling doesn't work on me anymore, because you can't possible shine as brightly as Christy does. What we had was fun, but I've moved on to other 'distractions'." This was an ugly side of Bella Christy was seeing now, but she couldn't deny when she'd broken up with her first girlfriend that she hadn't wanted to lash out like this; that was an ugly breakup as well. Bella had suffered a lot because of this boy and his breakup speech had left scars that took so long to heal, so Christy felt no remorse for what he was going through now. Perhaps this was the only way to make him accept it was over, that the breakup he did sixteen months ago was staying in place.

He did the best thing he could do in this situation, Christy thought. He stormed out. He left the front door wide open as he ran and a lot of eyes were following his run through the snow, but Christy's eyes stayed on Bella, who had more tears on her face and her heart was pounding. "Honey?" She asked softly, ignoring that it brought eyes back to them.

"I did it." Bella's voice cracked. "God, that was hard." She pulled Christy into a hug and held her tight. "You aren't a 'distraction', I didn't mean that."

"I know." Christy hugged her.

"Bella?" Esme asked hesitantly and took a step closer. "We are so sorry." She sounded as sincere as anyone ever possibly could be.

"In spite of everything, it is nice to see you again Esme." Bella managed a weak smile. She looked over at Christy. "I have such a headache and I need to lie down." Christy interpreted that as Bella was barely holding it together and wanted to go cry. She didn't doubt the headache was real.

"Headache?" Carlisle took a step closer, looking concerned.

"Tension." Bella looked over the Cullens with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, but I need to go to my room."

"We'll be here later dear." Esme told her and Christy glanced around to see Leah giving her a meaningful look, before Leah's eyes moved to Bella. Christy just nodded, Leah had come for this after all. Those two left for upstairs and Christy felt a little lost but she sat down in the loveseat with a sigh and waited for things to right themselves and questions to be tossed around, because she knew that was going to happen.

"Where did he go?" Esme asked Alice, anxiety in her voice.

"Yeah, especially since normally when he runs, he runs here." Rosalie muttered with a lot less sympathy.

"Their meadow." Alice said with a grimace.

"So, Christy," Carlisle spoke up and Christy looked over at him. He had an overly polite look on his face. "How did you meet Bella?" It was clearly an attempt at normalcy, which was needed as they could hear Christy's human starting to cry upstairs. A few of them cringed and Tanya patted Christy's knee as she sat down beside her, understanding how hard it was to try and ignore that, but Leah was right, Bella would put on a brave face for Christy and she needed to let these emotions out.

"When I walked into her store to get sunglasses, her heart started to hammer like a drum." Christy tried to resist the urge to point out it was because Bella knew what she was, but she just had to rub in their mistakes just a little more. "So I started talking to her, since it was obvious I didn't have to hide anything from her." She smiled a little, ignoring the widening eyes on Esme. "She's brave, I'll tell you that. She took one look at my eyes and almost demanded I not hunt in Forks, I had to explain to her that she shouldn't have admitted to knowing anything and I reassured her Forks was safe, but I decided to move in after that to keep an eye on her."

"Oh my god, is she an idiot?" Rosalie muttered angrily under her breath.

"She looked like she hadn't really slept well in months. She was pale and sluggish, she even blinked slowly. There was a hint of a slur to her words and she hadn't been drinking, and the darkness under her eyes rivaled ours." Christy turned a scolding look at the female. "It might have been a while since you've done it, but I can assure you lack of sleep causes all sorts of problems, including not thinking before talking." She shook her head and sighed, glancing at her own coven.

"Why did you decide to 'step in'?" Alice asked, clearly having wanted to ask that before.

"In spite of what you might think of me Alice, my diet isn't because I like the taste better. I kill the human predators to protect the innocent. If they tasted like deer I'd still do it." Christy was glad to see a hint of shame in Alice's face after her words. "I told Bella, if I ever can't find rapists, murderers or drug dealers, I'll eat deer. I just don't expect I'll have to pay up often. I've been at it for a little over a year and it's never been hard to find blood."

"Christy's a protector." Seth spoke up quietly but firmly. "She does what she does to protect those that can't protect themselves. It's why our tribe even made a treaty with her, because she does things like that for all the right reasons."

"Bella needed protecting." Christy didn't let the silence after Seth's words last long. "I knew she was in danger and I stayed to protect her and to help her heal." Christy let out a long breath. "It wasn't hard to empathize, and helping her gave me something to do. The endless nights were driving me crazy, and not having anyone to talk to didn't help."

"So you helped each other." Esme spoke softly, a nod of understanding and a hint of an approving smile on her lips.

"Exactly." Christy spoke softer, remembering their first Christmas and how Bella made time for her so she wouldn't be lonely.

"We need to thank you for stepping in and doing what we should have done." Carlisle spoke smoothly, a troubled frown on his lips. "It was a mistake to leave the way we did."

"Yes it was." Tanya spoke up flatly, still irritated with them over this.

"Bella said you and Leah were hurt?" Carlisle asked.

Christy shared a look with Tanya. "The wolves helped us with the newborns, but it was their first fight, they'd never done more than spar. We trained as hard as we could with the time we had, but Leah was grabbed by a newborn. The only reason I was able to get there in time to save her was that it was a sadistic bitch who wanted to kill Leah slowly, she could have squeezed quickly, but she was going slow and I managed to rip her head off. Leah had a few broken ribs and she had to be protected while we finished off the others."

"Show them your arm." Tanya spoke up and Christy turned sharply to stare at Tanya. "Show them." It was said more quietly, but it was clear Tanya really wanted them to see this.

Christy took a breath and looked at the Cullens sitting around the room, and the curiosity in a few eyes. She let out her breath and held out her left arm, rolling the sleeve up.

"I don't see any scars." Jasper spoke softly, even as Christy concentrated and her left arm disappeared, leaving the same jagged edges that had been left.

"Oh shit." Emmett stared at her arm in shock, a few of them did.

"After Christy lost her arm she continued to fight and kill, was it three? I think it was three more newborns, all one armed." Tanya told them, the warning in her voice clear. Christy reformed her arm and rolled the sleeve over it again.

"How did you make a new one?" Emmett asked.

"Part of my 'gift', I can reform lost parts." Christy glanced up toward the women upstairs, wondering if Leah heard any of this. "It was worth it. They had my wolf." She spoke softly, reassuring Leah if it was needed.

"I know you're the big Alpha, but technically that's my wolf." Irina gave her a small smile, and the atmosphere seemed to relax a little. "Still, I appreciate you saving MY wolf." There was a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Anytime." Christy returned the smile and then sat semi-patiently for another question. The Cullen's were quiet, a bit too quiet, for a little too long, before one of them spoke up.

"You're going to turn her, aren't you?" Rosalie asked, and there was a hint of sad resignation in her voice.

It was no secret to Christy that Rosalie would think of that as a horrible thing, even though she had Emmett she had other dreams she'd lost. "I probably will turn her." She spoke softly, and gave Rosalie a gentle smile even as she saw a hint of devastation on the blonde's face. "But then we've been talking about that for over a year. You have to understand, I want her turned, but I'm not making it easy for her. Alice says I'm showing her the darkest parts of us, and I guess I am. I want her to know what she'd have to give up, and what life would be like before she makes up her mind. We've done things that make Tanya cringe when I tell her about it. If after everything Bella still wants to be a vampire, I don't think even you could doubt she knows what she's getting into."

"What have you done?" Carlisle asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"You mean other than taking Bella out hunting?" Kate chuckled and several wide eyes turned to her. "Yeah, I know, I didn't believe her at first, but she did it."

"We hunted a deer." Christy explained before anyone started to think she'd taken Bella into the city with her, that was the last lesson and they didn't need to know about that one. "I had Bella learn more about the wildlife in the area, figure out what was endangered and she picked out my kill."

"And watched you do it." Irina shook her head. "Apparently your list of skills doesn't include neat eater."

"Hey, deer squirm different than humans do." Christy grinned a little. "No piss drinkers were around to warn me about that."

"You went out with Bella to kill a deer?" Carlisle seemed stunned, stunned enough to miss the teasing insult she often tossed at the other vampires in her coven. Christy chose to misinterpret why.

"It was touch and go for a little while, she came very close to throwing up, but she held it together." Christy was actually amused at the stunned faces she could see. "I killed as slowly as I could and still catch it, so she didn't miss much. Human eyes need a slower hunt to see it. Turns out when you do that you can 'slip' and they bleed all over you."

"I know." Tanya was grinning wickedly. "Who would have thought our only human drinker is the one with control like that?"

"How did you do that?" Jasper asked, his voice breathy in shock.

"Experience." Christy paused as she tried to think of how to explain this. It was the basis of her training with Bella. "As far as I can figure it's because of my background. I had a rough time of my human years, death was so ordinary people didn't blink anymore to hear more graves needed to be dug. I buried at least fifty children myself, dug their graves and put them in the ground. I put whole families in the ground. We always left a few open holes in case we were the ones to die next."

"The Black Death?" Carlisle asked and Christy gave a humorless smile.

"Oh she's much younger than that Carlisle, and that happened well before your time." Tanya told him.

"No, our death was actually a pretty yellow and red." She said, thinking of the asteroid that streaked across the sky, but then she focused on confused looking vampires. "I guess I should explain more about who and what I am." She'd shared some of her story with her coven, far more of it with Bella and now she was going to share some of it with the Cullens.

She'd explained her powers to travel realities and she'd briefly explained how her world died and the fast death of civilization there. She very briefly touched on her life with the xmen, but left out what she did for the most part and definitely left out her own dark past with people she didn't know or really trust yet. Still, edited to nearly nothing, once she stopped talking a few eyes went to Tanya.

"She's not lying." Was all Tanya said.

"You poor thing." Esme's voice cracked. "To live through so much."

"The thing is I lived through it." She spoke firmly before the pity could grow. "What didn't kill me made me stronger, and I'm very strong now." She could see her words made Esme rein in her tendency to mother. "I've been given another chance and I'm going to make something of this one. I'm going to see the world with Bella, not as a mission, but for the beauty of it. My powers let me not sparkle, so we'll see the sunniest places while she's still human. We're taking a good sized vacation this summer, basically every summer while we're in school. We'll see history unfold, and I'll admit I'll probably try and influence it a bit." She smiled a little at that, knowing she'd have a hard time resisting a little meddling if it was to make things better here. She already had changed so much on the small scale of a few covens and a Pack.

"And after school?" Rosalie spoke slowly, it was clear what she was asking.

"Yes, after school is the timeline she's set. If she's staying one age she decided 23 or 24 would be best. Based on her research she knows it is likely that the definition of adult might change and make her a 'child' again but she's comfortable with that age and I'm very good with makeup if we need to pretend she's even twice that."

"She's researched that?" Alice asked, her jaw hanging a little.

Christy smiled. "I make her research everything. No regrets, we're aiming for no regrets. Can't do that without really thinking it through."

"What about kids?"

"We researched that too." Christy's smile faded. "Some women never want that Rosalie, and Bella has been consistent in her life with her opinion, but still I've had her talking to new parents, watching children, talking to the elderly about their kids. She's got a good handle on what she thinks, and we can always pick people to care about. I have a coven, they are my responsibility and even though they aren't kids, other than Seth, they are mine. We will share that."

"Having a coven does help." Esme spoke softly, giving Rosalie a slightly measuring look. "Looking after you all, even though you are not children, helps fill that hole."

"So what, am I supposed to adopt Alice?" Rosalie grumbled.

"Too bad you guys weren't around for the newborn battle. We found one that got adopted out." Kate added not too helpfully. "Little girl too, what was she thirteen. It was nearly illegal to turn her, I could tell that much. She just made the legal cut."

"They made her fight?" Rosalie growled and Christy smiled just a little.

"No, poor girl froze on the battlefield. It was why she was the last one standing." Christy started to wonder if Rosalie was going to start considering turning someone now, it was a huge change for her if she did. "Peter and Charlotte took her in. She's on my diet as well."

"I could live with that diet." Rosalie muttered under her breath. There was some scandal on a few Cullen faces, but Emmett seemed more resigned and sat quietly for this, with his hand reaching out to hold Rosalie's.

"It's a little harder than you think." Christy spoke more seriously. "Killing the slime, easy, feels right, but I have to walk away from the victims. I can't risk helping them, drawing attention to myself." It hurt to think Leah looked up to see the man who was about to rape her gone, but she had to make her way to safety on her own. Leah was just one of the women she did that too. "And I've been late." Her eyes stared into haunted ones. "I really hate being late."

"But when you're not late, you help so much." Seth's voice cracked and Christy moved to stand up and move to him. He was taking deep breaths, trying not to let this conversation make him cry. It seemed like perhaps no one had talked to him about the attack that happened to his sister, because this looked like a fresh, barely scabbed over emotion.

"Seth." She kneeled in front of him. He was large for his age, as a wolf he would be, but he was still tender and young. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry." He squeaked out and took another deep purposeful breath.

"You don't need to be." Christy told him and gave him a hug, holding him. Yes the scent probably bothered him, but he let her do it.

"Can I go, have I done enough?" He asked, pleadingly.

"I've got this one." Irina spoke up from behind her.

"My entire little coven." She muttered as Irina helped spare Seth some embarrassment by leading him away to talk. They went outside, away from the house, for real privacy.

"Him?" Rosalie asked with a look of horror on her face.

"Leah, almost." Christy admitted very quietly, sitting in the chair he'd just been in. "She was human then and one of the women I managed to save, but it was very close. Wolves are very close by definition, and she's his sister." She looked into Rosalie's eyes. "I didn't know her then, and she is one of those women I had to just walk away from."

"But you've been there ever since." Leah spoke up from upstairs somewhere. Bella's sound of confusion showed that she didn't know what they were talking about down here.

Christy stood and faced the Cullens. "I'm leaving our relationship with you all up to Bella, she's the one you hurt. I will tell you this though, you will respect her and her opinions. You will not act like she is not capable in any way, because it took her so long to heal from vampires treating her like she didn't have a brain. I spent months just forcing her to make little decisions, because HE never let her. When I showed up she assumed the vampire would be in charge of her life again. It was hard to watch how he'd destroyed her independence and if anyone does that to her again they will not keep all of their parts." She leaned forward a little. "I can do it with one hand tied behind my back." Her eyes were not friendly in that moment. No one challenged her as she went upstairs to Bella. Leah needed to go to Seth and they'd done a lot of the friend sharing already, it was time for the girlfriend.

"She is really intense." Emmett spoke up as Christy was about to knock on Bella's bedroom door.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Kate sounded smug. "She'll do what she said she would if you don't treat Bella like an equal. She's serious about protecting her coven. It was very apparent when we showed up in Forks to meet her only to find Christy had torn Laurent into six pieces, and that was her idea of 'holding him for us', it was just so he wouldn't get away. Six pieces."

"Bella?" Christy knocked and then slowly opened the door. Bella's eyes were bloodshot, she had tear tracks on her face. "Honey?"

"Are they still here?" Bella asked, her voice rough. Christy stepped further in and nodded that Leah could leave. Leah hugged her on her way out.

"Yes, they seem to want to stay to talk to you, but you don't have to do that tonight if you don't want to." Christy moved to sit on the bed once she closed the door. Bella moved closer, so she wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. "I love you."

"I love you too." Bella spoke into her chest and they sat there on the bed, just holding each other until Bella started to droop a little, clearly exhausted from the stress of the day.

When Bella woke up and went to deal with the Cullens, Christy just walked through the room, giving them a meaningful stare that had Alice flinching just a little, before heading for the office door across the main room. "I'm going to see if my online class is active yet."

"Yes, you go to the University of Alaska, don't you?" Carlisle asked politely.

"We both do." Christy gave him a small smile, before giving Bella a glimpse. "You need me just call. I'll be working on my class for a few hours." She'd chosen to work in the office to be close. It was very likely she wasn't going to be able to get into anything. She might just sit in their playing solitaire on the computer. She didn't need to be this close, but Bella would feel she was nearby and that was good.

Christy wanted to give Bella privacy with this, but she also wanted to make sure she was being respected, so she found herself listening in only some of the time. Bella was forgiving them, but not so much as to cave to Alice's suggestion they could enroll in Bella's school to spend time with her. No, Bella was not offering up Fairbanks to them. For a moment Christy thought she'd have to get up and go out there as Alice started to badger, but the sound of Christy standing up stopped that immediately.

"Alice, do you see him?" Bella asked and Christy stopped moving her mouse to listen to this.

"He's in Forks for now, but he's going to be back. He's going through so many plans to try and talk to you again, to explain himself."

"I wish he'd just stay away. I don't want him ruining what I have now." Bella sighed.

"He needs closure Bella. You were the only girl he ever noticed, and losing you," Alice started softly.

"He tossed me away a long time ago. He didn't just lose me and he denied me any closure. I got mine earlier today and it's over. He really is a lousy boyfriend."

"I'm sorry. I thought seeing so many couples that he'd learn how to be better." Esme spoke up. "You two did seem happy together, it wasn't all bad was it?"

"I was happy, but now, looking back, I can't imagine how. None of my vampires talk to me the dismissive way he did. I don't know why," Bella sounded lost and Christy paused, wondering if she should go out there or not. "I know you are his family, and you made it clear that I'm not family. I'm sorry, because I really liked you all, but if I have to pick between you and him, and my coven and my girlfriend, it isn't a contest you can win."

"You don't need to do that." Alice spoke up quickly. "I don't need it to be a package deal. You're my best friend and I'm not losing you because he can't let go. I think you picked the scariest vampire you could find, but I don't doubt she'd do anything for you. I can accept it, it's odd and I'll need to get used to it, but Bella, I'm not losing you again." It sounded like the problems with Alice were over, and Christy liked the idea that Bella's friend wouldn't be pushing for Edward anymore.

"You got the better deal Bella." Rosalie finally spoke up, she hadn't been saying anything. "You got a hell of a girlfriend and I'd lose any respect for you that you gained with your 'Edward you are an ass' speech if you took him back now. He is an ass, you were going to beg to be changed to be with an ass forever and I was never going to be okay with that."

"Rosalie, he's your brother!" Esme scolded.

"Yes, but Rose is right, he is a craptastic boyfriend. I tried to show him the moves, but he was too high and mighty to listen to experience." Emmett spoke up and it made Christy smirk to hear him. "Not to mention you have to talk Christy into fighting with me." He sounded like an eager child.

"How much would it bother you to lose arms, if she gave them back?" Bella asked so casually. "Because she does that. She took Peter Whitlock's arm right off because he startled me. He lost in seconds, no challenge for her at all."

"She got Peter?" Another male voice spoke and Christy grinned wider, even alone in the office as she listened in to this.

"He was bragging like he'd be teaching her to fight. He never did that one again." Bella chuckled. "You don't get it, she was a superhero in her last world. She says she was a spy, but she toppled governments and took down army bases single handedly, and that was all before she had vampire speed and strength. She fought people who could fly, read minds, pick up cars. She knows so many martial arts styles I can't remember them all. I get them all mixed up together." Christy could hear the pride in Bella's voice and she knew she'd blush if she could.

"So you're safe as can be, aren't you?" Emmett muttered.

"Even so, she's teaching me self defense. She says she'd prefer to kill people that 'attempted to hurt me', rather than people who hurt me."

"You, self defense? You can't even walk up stairs without falling?" Emmett sounded shocked and Christy started to frown at the insult.

"Well, rather than just make fun of me for that, Christy asked me to try Tai Chi so I'd get better balance." Bella sounded just a bit colder, accusing.

"And that works?" Carlisle asked. "I should have thought of that. You were hurting yourself far too often."

"I do it most mornings now, we used to do it outside, but in Alaska, we use the main room of whatever house we're in. Even the garage is too cold."

Christy refocused on solitaire, as things seemed to be going well in the main room.


	14. Chapter 14

Christy put her luggage in the back of the jeep and stood there looking around at the house from outside. After a few days with them all living in the main house, Seth headed home and the part for the heater came in. Bella, Christy, Leah, and Irina ended up living in the guest house, even though it was missing a lot of furniture. They spent their days in the main house, but it gave them a little more privacy and Irina and Christy got closer as they hung out and watched some TV or talked about the fact they were both dating people who slept for a third of the day. It was kind of nice to have company during the nights, and they did tend to stay in the guest house for a lot of the night, Irina for some quiet and Christy because she wanted someone awake in the house while Bella slept. Edward was still out there and she had no idea what his plans were, but she didn't want to be surprised by them

Once she had all of her things in the jeep and the things Bella had left in the guest house, she drove the jeep up to the main house. Bella was in there eating breakfast and they had left a few things in there. They were waiting until after lunch to head out for Fairbanks. She brought a book in with her and her school bag, so she could get a little work done while they waited to take off. Most of the vampires congregated in the main room, so she took a chair in the corner to read in, giving Bella time to talk with Tanya and Leah in peace. They'd have the entire drive home to chat and Christy liked that her coven was getting closer.

"Come on, it's been weeks, just one." Emmett whined at her when he came into the room and Christy gritted her teeth and did her best to ignore him. He'd been pestering her to spar with him since the day after he got there. He didn't take it seriously, it was a game to him. That kind of attitude grated on Christy because she'd seen it before, in people who rushed out to 'have fun' in a battle and ended up getting killed or getting others killed. They didn't think about consequences of actions, it was all glory to them. "I'm gonna keep asking until you do it." He told her and Christy turned to glare at him.

"I don't hold back much in a sparring session, unless I'm training someone." She shook her head. "You aren't ready for me. Practice with Jasper for a while, if you take it seriously maybe in a couple of years you can ask again."

"I don't want to wait. You're just reading, come outside."

Christy looked passed him to see Rosalie watching this with a slight frown on her face. "It's not a game Emmett, I fight to keep my people alive, it isn't a fun way to kill time." She looked back at him. "Have you ever had to fight for your life, or the lives of people depending on you? Have you ever gone into one knowing that someone you love will get hurt if you don't win?"

"It's just sparring." He was annoying to a degree Christy found herself tempted to slap down.

"Do you even practice weekly? I train three times a week, alone if no one is there, but all the time so I'm ready if I'm needed."

"Daily." He said but Tanya shook her head at his answer and Christy crossed her arms in front of her. "Video games, I practice strategy."

It was ridiculous, this vampire was eager for a fight all the time like he was playing a real live video game. He was not ready for her at all. "Okay, you want this that badly I'll do it." She stared at him and let him do an inappropriate happy dance. "But it's both you and Rose or nothing. I'm going to teach you why fighting is serious business."

"What?" His smile faded quickly and his expression became much more serious.

"You heard me; your mouth just put Rose in the ring with me. It's appropriate, if you'd picked a fight with me outside when you came here she would have jumped in, so we're putting her in right away." Christy looked over at a resigned and slightly frightened looking blonde. "I won't kill either of you, no fire allowed." She gave him a grim smile. "I will rip limbs and heads off though. You have to in a fight, you go for the fast take down or you lose. That's why Leah's alive today and that newborn isn't, she didn't get it. It was a game to her. I don't waste time in a fight, I know there could always be others coming and I need to free myself up for the next one."

"I just want it to be you and I." He spoke with a hint of a whisper, none of his energetic babbling there.

"Oh, well I could spar with Rose first." Christy offered, "That way you see why you are fighting, you could try and get her arms from me."

"Oh my god. No, no," Emmett looked horrified and Christy didn't let her expression change as he stared at her in shock. He was falling for it and that was good, she might not actually have to teach him this one the hard way.

She leaned in toward him and spoke quietly. "You have to fight like you mean it Emmett, and you have to train like you mean it. Your coven really was just days away from being hunted down by the Volturi for what you did with Bella. You broke the law. You came very close to having a big glorious battle. Were you ready? To protect yourself and Rose, to protect the others? Or were you ready to play video games? You come back to me when you think you want to truly be ready and I'll help you, but I'm not sparring with you Emmett. You are not ready."

He left, and Christy moved to sit down in the chair, but Rosalie stepped up to her first. "Thank you for not doing it. He doesn't always think."

Christy resisted the urge to go into detail about why Emmett was more dangerous than their enemies the way he acted about fighting and just patted Rosalie's shoulder. "You're welcome."

"Would you really have fought us both?" She asked a little hesitantly.

"How else would I make him take it seriously? I take his arm, it's one thing, I take yours and he'd wake up."

"I'm really glad you talked him out of that." Rosalie shuddered just a little and walked away. Christy sat down with her textbook and started to make notes for her final class paper and ignored the way the others Cullens were staring at her. She did let herself grin a little after a moment and could hear how that made them relax, a few people let out a breath of air. It was kind of funny how scary they seemed to think she was, but she wasn't above using it.

"Good one." Jasper spoke softly and she glanced up to see him smiling just a little as well.

"I thought so." She winked at him and refocused on her work.

"That was a joke?" Alice asked in shock.

"Also true, but I wouldn't have really hurt Rosalie, just made him think I would." Christy explained herself and watched a mystified look cross Alice's face. "What I said was true though, he's going to get someone killed with his attitude if he isn't reined in. If I thought for a moment he was seriously ready to learn, I would have tried to teach him, but I don't start something like that with actual fighting. There is a whole mental aspect that needs to be there."

"You saw a lot of action haven't you?" Jasper asked solemnly.

"Too much, way too much." She told him and sighed.

"Christy, have you seen my laptop?" Bella asked. She was in the middle of packing to head home.

"Didn't you leave it in Tanya's office?" She called back. "Oh, don't forget the power cord." She called out as she heard Bella heading for the office.

"You two have been living together for a while now." Jasper asked.

"Why, because I know she'll forget the power cord?" Christy smiled as she listened to her human struggling to unplug the cord from the wall.

"No, it's just, you really have no problem with that?"

"My only problem is being quiet when she sleeps. It's when I do most of my homework, I read, I've been learning how to draw, anything quiet I can do. Sometimes I'll watch tv or some movies. I'll do the housework that isn't noisy, and she does the vacuuming and other things like that. Dividing up the household tasks was a new experience with me picking the midnight cleaning route."

"You could get it all done in no time."

"But she doesn't want to be a pet, and pets just eat, give affection and take up space. She wants to be my partner."

Once they'd left the house the drive back to Fairbanks was a little quiet for a while. "Alice wants to visit for spring break." Bella spoke softly, and glanced over at her.

"And what do you want?" Christy asked her.

"I think I might like for her to visit." Bella sighed and stared out the window. "Do you think I'm forgiving too easily?"

"Honestly, Alice is putting in a lot of effort. I wasn't sure about her at first, but she's gotten a lot better about how she asks you for things. I think she's trying and if you want to forgive her it would make sense to have her over. Problem is that little vampire seems to be a bit afraid of me."

"Like you weren't playing up the big and bad vampire while they were there?" Bella smirked. "I didn't think it was possible to scare an entire coven with one vampire."

"Why dear, I have no idea what you are talking about." Christy smirked and kept her eyes on the road. Bella's small chuckle was all the answer she got.

"I'll call her tomorrow and work out the details." Bella told her after a little longer.

….

It was the second weekend of the semester and Christy had a good deal of homework to get done, but she had other pressing things that had to come first. "I think I might head to Juneau or if that doesn't pan out I'll push on toward Sitka." Christy said, while lacing up her boots.

"So you're sticking to Alaska." Tanya said, while handing Christy her other boot. "No rush, we are going to have a movie marathon this weekend. Every movie I picked is about some part of history I was there for, the last thousand years."

"I get to pick too though." Leah interrupted. "I don't want dry historical crap."

"I have good movies." Tanya growled a little and it was clearly just posturing. Leah sighed heavily. "But I'm sure we have time for something you want."

"So, historical and sci fi then?" Christy teased gently, but then spoke more seriously. "Thank you for coming. I wish I could stay myself, you three have fun." Tanya had done this a few times, keeping Bella company when Christy expected to be gone a day or two. Leah was here because she could be and Irina was out hunting herself.

"For a movie marathon, we need movie snacks." Leah said from the kitchen when she looked over the cupboards.

Christy tossed her car keys to her wolf and gave Bella a gentle kiss, before pulling back and looking at Leah. "Go shopping then, you'll eat the majority of it anyway." Bella didn't snack much anymore, and her body was showing it, she was tone and lean, stronger. As a human she had to work to have a figure like the others in her coven, but she was doing it.

"Cute." But Leah sat down. "I might need a break after the first movie," She explained. "And I just got here."

"Suit yourself." Christy left and made her way south. She was running through woods or empty streets. She wasn't even near her destination when she ran across a scent that demanded she investigate, fear and blood.

Finding the child abuser was sickening, especially when she saw the little boy was beaten unconscious and his mother was half dead. Christy had been running passed their house when the smell and the small whimper caught her attention. She broke in, broke a neck and broke a rule. She needed someone to call for help to the house, they couldn't call themselves and didn't have time so Christy used the phone and pretended to be the little boy, dazed and lost and begging for help. Once she'd said enough she dropped the phone and left. They'd hopefully assume he was so hurt he didn't remember doing that.

Christy moved into the woods and listened for a little while, to see if someone would come and she heard the sirens before she started to move. "I guess I don't have to miss movie night after all." She tried to look on the bright side, but the sight in the house bothered her. Still she turned around and raced back home; she probably only missed one movie. It was the shortest hunting trip in her life here, even when she hunted in Fairbanks.

She was two blocks from the house when she smelled a scent that concerned her. Edward had come this way not that long ago. Christy picked up speed and raced forward, not liking that she was follow his scent right up to her house. "No." She muttered when she saw her backdoor opened, smashed and she ran up listening hard for any hint what was going on inside.

"Oh shit." She heard after the sound of a door opening, Leah sounded shocked. "Tanya, what, are you okay? Where is Bella?" Those words had Christy's heart sinking but she sped into the house herself and found out why Leah had sounded shocked.

Tanya was holding her leg to her body tightly, and the rip through her jeans made it clear it had been taken clear off. The livingroom furniture was in pieces and a plate with a salad was upturned on the floor. "He took her, yelling about her not losing her soul and he just took her. I tried to fight, but he countered every move I made with his damned 'gift'." Tanya told them quickly, staring at Christy. "Just left, run. He means to hide her away so no vampires can ever find her again."

"Get something to keep her warm and follow me." She told Leah, knowing Tanya could heal on her own, she didn't like it but she could and they needed to save Bella.

Christy found the path on the edge of the backyard and started to run. He was the fastest Cullen but if he was trying to keep Bella alive he wouldn't be running too fast and Christy could catch up with him. Her expression was grim and determined as she raced into the woods. He was not walking away from this one, no, she was going to make him pay and if he hurt Bella in any way he would spend the rest of his existence regretting it.

"You hurt Tanya, you hurt her. You're becoming the monster you always said you were, not Christy, you. No, let me go! I don't want to leave her, dammit, listen to me Edward, listen!" Bella was yelling and Christy moved to make sure she was coming up fast from downwind. As she came close enough to see them she barely managed to not growl, seeing Bella being restrained and carried, as he ran. Christy kept herself downwind and did her best not to make noise that he'd hear over Bella's yelling. She needed to get Bella to safety.

Another vampire appeared in Edward's path and Christy watched as Alice growled and blocked his path. "Put her down, you idiot! I can't believe I didn't see you doing this, but you are not taking Bella away to be what, a prisoner? You aren't saving her Edward."

"But I'm saving her soul, and when she's away from that monster she'll start to become the Bella she used to be. She'll remember she loves me." Edward set Bella down by a tree and Christy didn't hesitate. Alice, surprised Edward by going to Bella, rather than trying to stop him, but with his attention in front he didn't see the vampire about to tackle him to the ground.

There was no mercy in her left after his attack, and Christy ripped his head off quickly, growling as she did it. He never even knew she was there. She tossed it angrily into the woods, far from his body and barely could stop herself from reaching down and completely dismantling him, but Bella screamed. "Oh god." In turning to see her, it was obvious that the idiot hadn't even considered what this cold would do to her. Bella was somewhat blue, shaking, and scared looking.

"Are you okay?" Christy moved to her side quickly.

"Oh god, he was going to lock me up in some cabin forever, so I couldn't be turned. Forever alone with just him as my jailer." Bella started to cry. "He ripped Tanya's leg right off so she couldn't follow. She tried to save me, but he beat her."

"Tanya is okay, she's okay." Christy held her tight and shared a look with Alice.

"Please don't kill him, it would devastate Esme and Carlisle." Alice pleaded, looking at his body with fear. Edward without his head was a bit of a gruesome sight for family, Christy was sure, but she didn't care at the moment. When she looked down she saw Bella's socks, but no shoes. He'd taken her out into the Alaskan wilderness with no shoes on.

"Oh god," Christy pulled Bella into her arms and held her up out of the snow. "I'm killing him, I have to, he can't ever do this to her again." She told Alice firmly and swung Bella to show Alice her socks. "Never again." Christy felt like crying at that moment, knowing how much pain Bella was probably in or would be when the feeling came back. She didn't have any body heat to give her lover.

A loud bark announced that help had arrived and Christy held Bella bridal style and took a few steps toward where Leah broke through the treeline. Boots hung around her neck, laces tied to make it possible and a blanked covered her back. She moved oddly not to dislodge those things. To violently chattering teeth Alice helped put Bella's shoes on so that Christy didn't have to set her down and the small vampires face was grim as she did it.

"Can you carry her? You're warm, and I think it might help." Christy asked Leah. She'd meant she wanted to know if there was a way to hold Bella on her back, but Leah shifted right then, leaving herself bare to the elements and held her arms out wordlessly.

"This way, I can do it this way." Leah said and Christy put Bella in her arms. Bella was having trouble even trying to talk now, and then wrapped the blanket around them both so that Leah could hold it on as well. Leah pulled Bella very close and started back through the snow. Even a wolf would be cold in this, but she kept a determined look on her face and continued on. Christy felt so touched by that, but she had work to do so she turned to Alice.

"Find his head and meet us at that house." She was cold to her, and Alice had come to try and stop Edward, but she'd pleaded for his life as well and Christy rarely wanted someone dead more than she wanted him at this moment. She grabbed his body carelessly and moved to follow Leah and Bella back home.

The only reason his body made it inside was that Christy wanted to make sure the little vampire that would follow didn't steal it. Christy tossed him in the empty wine cellar, letting his limbs flop around in a very undignified pose and slammed it shut hard enough to crack the door. She then did her best to reset the backdoor to keep the cold out, but it would need to be fixed soon if they wanted to keep it warm inside, warm enough.

"We can get the fire roaring in her bedroom." Christy told Leah, "Can you lay with her, share your heat?"

"I know, I saw the movies too, to fight frostbite you use bodyheat." Leah sighed. "I've got this." Bella was sleeping, Christy hoped, because she was so cold.

Tanya was limping around when Christy came back down after starting the fire. The Denali leader looked pissed, as she struggled with the door Christy set. "Once I heal up enough I'll go get a new door. We can't let this sit this way."

"I'm killing him." Christy growled.

"You need to let Bella be part of the decision, you always say she's part of the big decisions." Tanya pointed out and Christy growled a little deeper to hear those words.

"He would have killed her in his effort to 'protect her' and still thought it was better that way." Christy pointed out and her body shook a little. Tanya took three limping steps forward and pulled her into a hug. "I almost lost her today." Christy's voice cracked.

"But you didn't. You saved her, you saved her again." Tanya whispered into her ear. "I tried, I really tried Christy, but you saved her. I was so scared that I failed you both so badly, but you fixed it." Christy squeezed Tanya to her a little tighter, but then they heard the front door open slowly. They both turned to see Alice take a few hesitant steps inside, Edward's head in her hand, before she closed it.

"You can put THAT by the fireplace in the living room." Christy growled.

"Christy! You know you can't do that." Tanya scolded her very gently. "Not without talking to Bella first."

Christy bared her teeth at the idea that Bella might chose to let him go, but she just jerked her head to still put it by the fireplace. Alice looked scared, and that might be why she did what she was told. "Can you get Tanya something to eat and get a new door for this?" She pointed out the door that wasn't serving its purpose.

"I've got it." Alice nodded and took the keys from the living room floor where Leah must have dropped them before heading out.

"I didn't want her here when we're distracted, she might take his body and I'm still hoping to kill him." Christy explained.

"What is she doing here?" Tanya asked as the Jeep started up and started to pull out of the driveway.

"She came to stop Edward." Christy acknowledge Alice's attempt.

Bella's teeth started chattering again and they could hear it. Christy grimaced and then stared at the head she'd ripped off. "I will not allow him to get away with this and be able to try again, regardless of what Bella says. I can't. I can't risk that."

"We still want to keep some relationship with the Cullens." Tanya pointed out, "But let me think about this. I might have a way to deal with this. We have every right to kill him, but if Bella won't allow that we might have other options."

"Did you want to go up to her?" Christy asked when a particularly violent shudder went through Bella's body as she started to thaw could be heard.

"I can't make the stairs." Tanya whispered and Christy ever so carefully picked her up, making sure not to hurt the leg that was trying to reattach itself.

"I've got you." She whispered and ignored that Tanya leaned in and rested her head against Christy's neck, or the few shudders that went through her body as Christy helped her upstairs and into a chair by the side of the fire. Having Bella ripped from them hurt them all, Christy could tell. She went back down to grab the head and tossed it into Bella's closet, so that no one could prevent them from making Edward pay, before she sat down in the other chair near the fireplace and they waited for Bella to recover.

They could hear the sound of wood cracking as Alice tossed the old back door away and put in the new one. They heard her leave and come back and Christy carried Tanya back downstairs and out the new backdoor for a meal, before three vampires went up to Bella's bedroom for a silent vigil as they waited for Bella to recover. Leah had fallen asleep in the bed, holding Bella, but her body heat still was doing wonders.

"How is the leg?" Christy asked after a long silence, where she'd been holding her hands closer to the fire to try and get them human warm. She was going to need to touch Bella soon and she wanted warm hands for the job. Tanya blinked and looked over at her, clearly being pulled out of her thoughts.

"Still weak, but getting better." Tanya answered just as quietly. Her eyes traveled over to Alice, who was sitting very quietly in the corner of the room looking somewhat sick with what had happened, and very quiet. "He ripped it off so I couldn't follow." Christy noticed Alice flinch at that. "I've sheltered that asshole so many times in my coven when he needed space from his own and he ripped my leg off while stealing a human under my care, my human covenmate." She was pissed.

"What happened?" Christy asked quietly, glancing over at Bella. She could hear Bella was doing a bit better, her skin was a healthier color too.

"I was out hunting, and by the time I saw him make a decision I didn't have phone reception." Alice spoke up to answer some of that question, there as a hint of pleading for them to believe her in that voice that explained why she rushed to answer. "I would have called, really, but I couldn't and it looked like he was just going to visit and try and convince her to go back to Forks and leave you all." Alice's eyes took a brief glance towards the closet doors that had his head behind them. "He heard Tanya talking with Bella about being turned and suddenly his plans changed. I came as fast as I could and I'd been hunting nearby. If I hadn't been hunting I wouldn't have been close enough to do anything."

"I know it isn't your fault." Christy told Alice gently, but then her voice hardened. "Of course it was a last minute decision, because he was so stupid about it. If he'd gotten away he would have killed her in the cold. He was running with her here, we never do that. Alice, he attacked Tanya, kidnapped MY human and she would have died if I hadn't found him quickly." Christy took a careful breath as her voice tightened. "If he'd had her longer she'd be losing body parts at the very least."

Tanya made a small sound of agreement, before speaking up, "He did all of this because I was talking about things we could do when she's turned. I was talking about her being a vampire and he broke through the door and attacked me. I knew he was unhappy with being a vampire, but that kind of response makes me think he will not let it go. As long as she's human, he's a danger to her."

"He believes we lose our souls when we are turned." Alice admitted quietly, her hands clasped in front of her as she looked at her hands rather than the others in the room. "He's religious enough to think her soul is more valuable than her life, especially if she isn't with him anymore." Alice's words were driving nails into Edward's coffin, Christy thought, but she could see how sick Alice was looking at having said that about him. Christy's respect for Alice was a lot higher after that, because Alice was putting Bella's safety before Edward's in that moment, saying something like that to Christy.

"My power is to absorb the energy given off from the body when it lets the soul free, and I use it to do the other things I can do. I 'eat' the energy that holds us to the world, and I know for a fact vampires give that energy off too. You have a soul Alice, just so you know. We all have one." Christy glared at the closet and didn't go into details about how Edward was not being given a slap on the wrist and sent on his way this time. No, that idiot was going to pay for this.

Alice flinched. "I know you want to kill him, but can you stop planning it please." She asked with a small voice. "I see every plan and it's so," Alice's words trialed off.

"Sorry Alice." Tanya spoke up before Christy could and Christy glanced at the blonde to see she wasn't the only one that had been running scenarios through her head.

Christy stood up and moved to the foot of the bed, glancing at the two women sleeping and Leah blinked sleepily and looked up at her. "I'm going to pull up the sheets from down here to see her feet. Are your feet okay?"

"I'm fine, I healed up quickly." Leah told her quietly and Christy tugged the blankets and sheets out from under the mattress so she could gently flip them up to expose Bella's feet. She kneeled down to see two pair of feet and gently took one of Bella's into her hand and felt them. She looked at the toes and gently touched them, looking for evidence of frostbite.

"What are you looking for?" Alice asked.

"I'm checking to see if she has frostbite and we have to take her to the ER so she doesn't lose any toes." Christy explained herself. "She could have lost toes out there, the idiot didn't even think that she wasn't fully dressed."

"Is she okay?" Alice asked hesitantly. "With Leah here, I can't see anything. I'm blind and I can't see if she'll get better or not." And Christy was sure that it was why Alice was so nervous today, she had no way to know how this mess was going to end. "If she left I might see something."

"We need her to keep Bella warm, more than a vision right now." Christy told Alice and then moved to pet Leah's feet, and moved to check them as well. Leah tugged on one foot for a startled moment, trying to pull away but she stopped that and held still. "I'm so glad your hot wolf blood protects you." She told Leah gently while tucking the blanket in carefully again.

"I'm glad my 'wolf blood' can help." Leah told her with a sleepy smile. Bella had managed to sleep through it all, but it seemed like a natural sleep. Christy was starting to feel she could stop worrying, that the worst consequences might have been avoided.

Once the others heard that, Tanya hesitantly checked her leg to see if it would hold her. She took a few steps and let out a breath. "I won't be running tonight, but I can walk." She told them, and then looked at Christy. "I need to call the others and let them know what happened here."

"Not the Cullens, not yet." Christy spoke up and could see Alice squirm in her seat at that. "We all need to talk before we talk to them."

"I wasn't suggesting we call them yet." Tanya gave Christy a gentle pat on the shoulder as she stood in front of her. "No, I want our coven to know trouble is on the way."

"Why aren't you calling Carlisle?" Alice asked and they both turned to look at her. "He should know what Edward did."

"Oh, we'll call him once we know where we stand on this." Tanya explained. "By rights, we could just kill him, just like when Laurent was the one to attack Bella she had the right to kill him and not let us come to see her about it first." Christy managed to not show a grim smile at Tanya's comparing both attacks like that. It said a lot about how Tanya expected to deal with this issue and Edward had lost his 'family' status with them all if Christy was right about this. "We would appreciate it if you did not call for us until we have time to discuss how to deal with this." Tanya's voice was firm, in control, and very much a leader as she said that.

"As long as you tell them before you do something irreversible." Alice slumped in her seat as she said that, clearly unhappy, but she had to know there wasn't a defense she could launch for Edward now.

"Oh, I think that's very reasonable." Tanya said in a cold voice that had Alice shuddering a little, perhaps with a vision that hit her of what Tanya was thinking. Tanya shook her head no when Christy went to ask what the plan was. "Soon, but we need to hear from Bella first. Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll go with your plan." Christy should have been irritated, but she just nodded and focused her attention back on her sleeping coven members. Tanya had a good plan, that was clear in how upset it made Alice. Christy was going to trust her with this for now and argue for more if it wasn't enough later.

It took just one more hour before Bella woke up slowly. Alice had wandered downstairs and something was playing on the TV. Tanya had called the others and filled them in on what had happened, and they had all been ready to come right over, but Tanya asked them to wait, that after this that many vampires might overwhelm Bella. It was so considerate and Christy felt a pang of appreciation for that.

The crackle for the fire and the other warm body in the bed had Bella's eyes going wide rather quickly and Christy chuckled as Bella tensed up. "Leah's keeping you warm." She explained and watched Bella start to relax. Leah had moved to spoon Bella in her sleep, so Bella couldn't see the body against her but she could probably feel they weren't wearing much. Leah had both of them down to just underwear and bras in that bed after all. "How are you feeling?" Christy asked and squatted down in front of Bella's side of the bed.

Bella seemed to be taking inventory of her body. "Warm, good." Christy let out a relieved breath at the words. "Where is he?"

"I didn't burn him, if that's what you're asking." Christy growled. "We have to talk about what to do, but I didn't put his head back on either. If he said even one word to me I couldn't guarantee I could wait to talk to you before burning him."

Bella grimaced, but she didn't object to what Christy had done. After another moment of silence she just moved on to another question. "Is Tanya okay? Her leg, it was awful." Bella shuddered and in her sleep Leah just pulled her closer when she did that.

"She's still healing. She can walk now, and was able to take the stairs slowly, but she isn't running home tonight, that's for sure." Christy reached out and caressed Bella's hair, and she couldn't help but inspect her ears to see they were the right color, but she did it quietly and just the one she could see. "She was terrified that we'd never see you again, so was I."

"He was planning to make sure you never did." Bella's voice started to shake. Leah woke up and when she looked over at Christy, she slowly pulled back away from Bella, so Christy could pull Bella into a hug. "I can't believe he did that to me, he was going to lock me up like I was fucking Rapunzel and watch me slowly die of old age."

"Actually, the way he took you, you wouldn't have survived the night. He took you into the wilderness without any of your things, coat, gloves, shoes, he took you without shoes. I was worried you'd lose toes tonight, but I got to you in time." Christy admitted and watched the healthy flush of Bella's face drain to white, too close to what she'd looked like at the worst of the cold. "I'm so sorry baby." Bella started to sob and Christy felt helpless as all she could do was rub her back gently and hold her.

"You two need time." Leah whispered and got out of bed and left for her own room, and a change of clothes.

"He'd really rather I was dead than a vampire and he wouldn't listen. I couldn't stop him." Bella's words were hard to make out in her crying. "He hurt Tanya to get to me and he wouldn't stop, I screamed for him to stop and he wouldn't stop." Growling could be heard in the hall and from downstairs at Bella's words. Christy had to work hard to control her own anger and just be there for Bella now, but she felt a new wave of hate for Edward rolling over her. Christy had no sense of time as she held Bella while she cried, but it felt far longer than the longest night she'd ever had in this world. It felt like Bella's pain was pouring out forever before she slowly started to pull herself together.

"We can't wait, he'll just do it again. You have to turn me." Bella's words broke Christy's heart. "I don't want to ever be taken again, I don't want to lose you and I couldn't stop him. I tried and I couldn't stop him."

"No, you wanted 23, not 19. You wanted college and I will not let that piece of shit take that from you." Christy growled just a little. "I can make sure he's never a problem again."

"What?" Bella stared into Christy's eyes. "But Esme," She stammered.

"She wouldn't want you killed to 'save your soul'." Christy tried. "That's what he was doing, whether he was too stupid to know what he'd done would make it was right away or his plan for over years, that was what he was doing."

"I can't." Bella's voice cracked. "We can't,"

Tanya chose that moment to come in, when Christy was busy wishing her human had some degree of cold blooded vengeance in her, because she wasn't practical enough to see this was the best solution. "He will remain a threat to you if we don't do something." She said and Christy moved to the side when she saw Bella's expression at seeing Tanya walking. Her human held out a hand and pulled Tanya into a firm hug. "And he is no longer family to the Denali's. Not after what he's done. He will never set foot in our homes again."

"You can't do that for me." Bella protested lightly.

"He attacked both of us Bella. I should kill him just for what he did to me alone, but taking you, that's the crime I want him to pay for." Tanya explained and Christy moved to sit at the foot of the bed as Tanya prepared her proposal, it was clear with her experience that she was framing it to get Bella to accept. Christy was willing to see what Tanya had cooked up without saying anything about how it was being framed, she just hoped it was enough, because if Tanya talked Bella into something and it wasn't 'enough' then Christy was going to have a hell of a time increasing his punishment. "He betrayed me and my family, and spit our hospitality in our faces. We killed Laurent for this, we didn't know you, so we killed him for the betrayal. I've taken Edward into my house so many times when he needed to get away. He repaid that by attacking me and stealing a member of my coven, and the human I was protecting. To not kill him is unthinkable to most covens who might hear about his crimes, though they wouldn't understand you being human, even if they knew that I believe they would kill him. They'd kill him for touching a human they'd claimed in any way."

"James." Bella whispered.

"Yes, the Cullens killed him, as was their right." Tanya nodded.

"But then Victoria came after us." Bella pointed out and Christy almost smiled at the idea the Cullens would decide to attack them. They would never try and if they did they'd never get far.

"Because she didn't agree a crime had been committed and she was his mate. Edward has no mate in that coven and if we explained what he did and planned to do, the Cullen's would agree a crime was committed." Tanya spoke and Christy watched the pain and confusion cross Bella's face. "He could never hurt you again if we killed him, but if you can't agree to that we can disable his ability to go after you while you are human and revisit his punishment when you are able to defend yourself from him."

"What do you want to do?" Bella asked and Christy watched as the door opened and Alice slipped in, looking solemn and hesitant. "Alice?"

"Bella, I've 'seen' Tanya's plan and I think you should consider it. It will stop him long enough that he no longer can do anything to you." Alice looked away and through pain gritted teeth she spoke. "His stupidity will kill you if he just walks away. He won't listen, he honestly believes your 'soul' is more important than your life. He will just escalate while you're human and you deserve your human years, your plans. You deserve them." Alice took a shaky breath. "You don't have to worry about my coven coming after yours. Half of my coven will never forgive him for what he's just done and we will all know that if he's left alive then mercy was shown. Rosalie won't forgive this, neither will Emmett. I can't forgive this." Alice moved closer and Bella reached out to take her hand, squeezing it gently.

As Tanya explained the plan Christy fought the urge to say it wasn't enough. It would do the job, which was usually all she wanted out of a situation and she forced herself to ignore the desire for vengeance and look at whether it would destroy the threat and it would. Bella got incredibly pale as it was explained to her, but she gave a brief, small, nod of consent when she realized that the three vampires in her room all agreed it was a workable plan. Bella worked out a chance for him to redeem himself in the future, she left a loophole that Christy hoped he never managed to use. Christy left Alice with her lover as she and Tanya went to start to take care of it.

There was a lot of work that happened over that Friday night as they enacted the sentence, and they left with a very slowly healing Edward in the back of the Jeep to drive to the Cullen's house with Alice, Tanya, and Christy. Alice assured them he wasn't going to come to before they explained everything and got there, so he wasn't going to cause a scene on the road. The Cullens were going to act as his jailers, it was the 'Denali coven' effort to keep their relationship with the others in the Cullen coven, handing him over like this. Leah stayed with Bella at the house. Irina came to keep both of them company as well.

Halfway to the new Cullen house in a small town in British Columbia, Christy pulled out her cell phone. "Cullen residence, we do everything but windows!" Emmett said with a chuckle and Christy could hear Esme scolding him in the background for how he answered the phones. It sounded like they were doing some cleaning at the house. Hopefully they were ready for this mess that was coming.

"You need to round up your coven, because we are demanding retribution for actions taken against us." Christy said formally, as she was learning was the way of older covens. It wasn't so far off from what she would have chosen to say herself if this had all been her idea.

"Christy? Oh shit, what did he do?" Emmett picked up who was at fault quickly and he sounded a bit panicked that Christy was mad. Her being the one to call had been a decision they made. "Christy wants retribution!" He yelled out in the house and the other end of the phone went quiet for a moment and then Christy could hear fast movement as people whipped open doors and came running.

"Christy?" Carlisle's voice was on the phone, clearly he took it from Emmett.

"Edward has gone too far and we can't look the other way this time. I let him get away with attacking me and I didn't hurt him last time, but this will not be forgiven."

"Put it on speaker." Rosalie's voice demanded of her coven leader. "Oh god, what did he do now?" She asked.

"Rose." Carlisle scolded her.

"Your golden boy has Christy pissed at us. I'd like to know if I'm going to die and why!" Rose yelled at him.

Christy hit mute for a second on her phone. "Wow, I had no idea they were that scared of me." She muttered to Tanya and heard Alice let out a long breath of air behind them. "If this weren't so sad it would be funny." She let go of the button and could tell by the odd sound of the phone they had the speaker on at the Cullen house.

"What has he done and what do you want?" He asked and Alice's phone started to ring as someone was probably frantically trying to get her involved.

Alice didn't answer it, she just spoke up. "Edward was colossally stupid and I'm escorting him back to our house with Christy." Was all she said.

"Edward, what did you do?" Carlisle growled.

"He is still reattaching his head." Christy said and a woman gasped. "He can't hear or respond yet."

"Was that really necessary?" Carlisle asked, a hint of a growl in his voice.

"Oh yes it was." Christy said firmly. "He attacked our Fairbanks home, attacked Tanya and ripped her leg off, and then took Bella out of the house without any cold weather gear and ran, RAN for miles with her before he was caught. He planned to abduct her and make her live out the rest of her life in a remote cabin, never seeing us again. He didn't plan on how to keep a human alive in the subzero temperatures, didn't have a car, didn't let her put on shoes and she was freezing when I got there. If he'd gotten away she would have died before they found any cabin."

"Oh my god." Esme sounded stunned.

"I have checked and we're lucky she doesn't have frostbite. If she'd lost a single toe I don't think that I would have been able to stop myself from killing him immediately, as was it was very close." Christy wasn't sure she could have stopped if it wasn't for Tanya.

Finally, Tanya spoke up. "It was an act of war Carlisle. I want you to know that, because even though we are letting our current relationship with your family color our response, that is what he's done. If he had done this to any other coven they would massacre the lot of you."

"Tanya, you know we'd never condone what he's done. I am so sorry." Carlisle spoke brokenly. "We value our friendship so much, I can't imagine why he did something like this."

"You let him hold dangerous self hating beliefs and didn't correct it." Christy explained coldly. "No soul, so what was he going to do when he realized that Bella was planning to become one of us? He truly believes she's better off dead. You let that continue and now he almost killed her to 'save her soul'. If he hates what he is that much, I really would have preferred he end himself, not her." And there was a chance that he might end himself, but Christy wasn't warning anyone about that. He'd been suicidal in the books and she wouldn't mind if he returned to that. If he went to the Volturi now, with Bella already choosing to be a vampire and him showing that was why he attacked, Christy was pretty sure everyone but him would be safe.

"I told you, I told you Carlisle." Esme whispered in pain. Clearly she'd been upset about Edward's beliefs before.

"She screamed for him to stop hurting Tanya. She screamed for him to let her go as he kidnapped her." Christy stabbed them with her words. "Bella screamed and I'll see him in hell before he ever makes her scream again." She looked over at Tanya and wanted one more thing clear. "Tanya fought for me, I was out hunting. She was hurt on purpose so she couldn't follow; he did that to her on purpose as a calculated move, and as a coward he wasn't there to face me himself. I'll make him pay for that as well. Tanya has been nothing but wonderful to us and to think he hurt her pisses me off to no end." Tanya reached out and took Christy's free hand, squeezing it gently and then just holding it for a little while. Christy knew it was a hint to Tanya's feelings, but she didn't care at the moment to worry about it.

"Yes, Tanya has been wonderful to us as well." Carlisle said, his voice rough with emotions. "I will make sure he understands what a huge mess he's made."

"Yes, you will. You will have lots of time to make sure he learns what he should have learned in the past hundred years." Christy felt the evil smirk on her lips and could see Alice glance toward the back of the Jeep where he was laying. "We have taken our retribution out on him, and your retribution will be to care for him and fix his fucking mind."

"We will, we will work with him." Carlisle agreed quickly.

"I don't think it will be an issue, but if he comes near Bella again, or badgers her, I will come back and destroy him completely." Christy told them. "And if you were negligent in keeping him under control I will spread the wealth all over you."

"He's the fastest of us, how are we going to keep him away from Bella if he's gone crazy?" Rosalie asked, "Why punish us when he's the idiot. Can't you just take it out on him, we can't control him."

"Rose, that's your brother, we have to try." Esme pleaded.

"I've taken measures to make it easier." Christy admitted slowly. "Harder in some ways, but easier to not break my demands at least."

"No, we took those measures Christy." Tanya spoke up. "We are in agreement on his punishment and if Bella were not as soft hearted as she is, we would have been in agreement for killing him outright. Don't mistake this second chance for anything that would happen again if he so much as upset us."

"Is Bella okay?" Rosalie asked before anyone could ask what she'd done to Edward to make things easier.

"She had mild hypothermia, but luckily Leah was there and could help her warm up. She begged me to turn her right away so she couldn't be stolen again. I think she's a bit afraid to be human now, because he made her so helpless. We chose this punishment rather than turn her early or have her live in fear. Still, I worry that she'll still live in fear until she is turned. He's pretty much guaranteed she won't pick staying human now, not when she's so powerless as one." Christy spoke more gently to Rosalie and she was glad to hear the gasp and sympathy from her. Anything she said to them would get back to the telepath she was delivering once he woke up, and he could use some of this information. "I expect a return to her nightmares for a while."

"Of course." Rosalie whispered.

"She will overcome this, she's already overcome so much of what he's done, and we will help her." Christy said and noticed they were getting off the main road so they were coming in to the Cullen house. She hadn't been here before, they'd just moved to Canada recently to be closer to Bella and this was the first visit between covens.

They stopped in front of a large house and Christy stepped out and closed the door behind her. Alice was a little slower to face her family with this, and Christy gave her a small reassuring smile, that she hid again as she moved to the back of the Jeep.

"We are so sorry." Carlisle spoke up, the others having all followed him outside. "He will not do this again."

Christy opened up the back of the jeep and pulled on the red shirt they'd placed on him. His head was looking mostly healed. "He will need to be fed soon." She said and turned to look at them. "We removed all risk to my coven, and once Bella is a vampire we are willing to discuss returning his legs."

Esme screamed on seeing him, as Christy rolled him out and onto the ground. His body bounced a little as he fell and rolled to a stop. "He shouldn't be able to escape you again."

"Why did you take his arms and legs? This is barbaric!" Carlisle looked horrified.

"I didn't want him to run away from you, and I could have taken just his feet, but he cut Tanya off at the knee, so I did that." Christy pointed to the two stumps. "He grabbed Bella and dragged her outside where she would have died of frostbite or hypothermia. He took her just wearing socks, so if she lived she would have lost both feet so I took both legs."

"And the arms?" Rosalie asked hesitantly with something resembling horrified curiosity.

Tanya spoke up, "After we'd removed his legs Christy tried to see how fast, how dangerous, she could be if she didn't use her legs and just dragged them around and we determined he could still attack Bella if he snuck out. If Bella was caught alone, she'd be at risk and there was a way to 'walk' on hands that didn't take Christy long to discover. We left him one, it's just under him at the moment."

"Did you burn them? Will you burn them?" Carlisle asked, in a whisper as he moved closer to stare at his son laying in the back of the jeep.

"I hid them and since I made Leah come with me but blindfolded her, only I can find them. Alice can't." She could see he was caught between guilt, anger and shock. "Alice pled for his life rather well, but,"

"But he really would have killed Bella Friday and he won't stop trying to get her if we got him whole, and even if we tried really hard, we couldn't promise he'd never escape. I had to agree to this or either Bella or Edward were going to die." Alice finished and she looked shaken.

"Once Bella stops having nightmares and isn't filled with fear, and if he seems to be remorseful we might consider sending you an arm, but those legs are staying off until she's vampire and if he's still an issue after that you won't get them then."

"I wanted a baby. I'm not taking care of that asshole. I wasn't thrilled being turned, but I would never actually hurt or kill Bella because she wants this. It's her choice and she's getting to make it. That asshole tried to take her choice." Rosalie muttered and turned her glare to Carlisle. "Alice saved your wonderboy. Have fun."

They left Alice at home and it looked like she was convincing the Cullens that this really was the best deal they could expect, given the situation. Alice didn't volunteer that she'd probably been exactly what they needed to talk Bella into this, that her approval of the plan made it so, or that she hinted that if anyone carried him around he might be able to read the minds of a wolf that hid the limbs, but if Leah didn't know where they went, no one could find out. Christy already knew, but Alice volunteered the information and for that if Alice ever needed a different coven, one was waiting for her.


	15. Chapter 15

Monday morning Tanya was moved in, to help make Bella feel safer as she got over Edward's attack. It was about two hours before Bella's alarm was going to go off when Christy heard Tanya slipped into the human's bedroom. She paused in her homework and listened a little harder.

"Tanya, no," Bella whispered and Christy sighed and slowly got up to head down the hall to the human's bedroom as well. "NO, not Tanya."

The blonde was standing in the doorway looking a little lost at the nightmare she was witnessing. "She had this one the night you left to get your things and hunt." Christy said quietly, startling Tanya from her watching the nightmare happen. "Why don't you go in there and comfort her?"

"She's yours." Tanya said quickly and her eyes were wide.

Christy just smiled gently at the blonde, "But it's not me she's worried for right now. You need to take this one. I knew she'd be like this, it's why I wanted you here."

"You are okay with that?" Tanya asked hesitantly, and Christy considered saying that she knew Tanya had feelings and she wasn't threatened, instead she just nodded and stepped back, to wait for Tanya to go to Bella.

"I'm here Bella, I'm fine." Tanya spoke too quiet for Bella to hear.

"She'll need you to talk at least as loud as I am right now to hear you." Christy reminded Tanya, who took whispering too far.

"Bella, darling Bella, I'm fine. I've healed." Tanya said at the right volume and Christy moved a few steps to the left to see into the room. Tanya was holding her hand out like she wanted to caress Bella's hair and there was a look back toward Christy, who just nodded her permission, before Tanya's hand petted Bella's hair gently.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." Christy covered up her amusement when Tanya was shocked by Bella grabbing her arm in her sleep and holding it tight to her chest. It was a move Bella did to Christy in her sleep at times. "Call if you need me." Christy turned and left a tense vampire with her lover. It was cute how nervous Tanya was about that, and yet Christy suspected that this might be the end of this particular nightmare for Bella. She hoped this worked.

After Bella stopped tossing and turning Tanya was in Christy's doorway and standing a little tensely just a moment later. Christy just smiled and turned the page, before looking up. "Don't worry so much. You stopped the nightmare."

"I am not sure I should be the one doing this."

"I tried when you were gone and I couldn't stop that nightmare." Christy admitted quietly. "She can tell the difference between vampires in her sleep and she knew I wasn't you. I got begging to save you. I don't want to sound selfish, but I really prefer her reaction to you. Hearing her beg for help broke my heart, and I really wanted to head back to Canada and finish the job on that prick."

"If I had won that fight she wouldn't have nightmares." Tanya spoke quietly and her jaw clenched. That had Christy on her feet and taking a few steps closer to the Denali coven leader. "I should have won it, I am by far the better warrior, but his gift got in the way."

"You did what you could and you paid for it." Christy spoke and she had to gently use her hand to force Tanya's chin up so she could look in her eyes. "Neither of us blame you for anything. I know I think you showed what a true friend you are, you've been doing that all through, but the way you took charge and helped with Edward and the entire situation was great. It was nice not having to be the only one able to foresee the issues and angles we needed to cover. Bella's getting better at helping me like that, but she was in no shape to help with anything that night, and this was too personal. She tends to forgive hurt done to her too easily. I think you punished him for her, and part of why she agreed to that punishment was for you."

Christy slowly wrapped Tanya into a hug and pulled her closer. The blonde was a bit taller than Christy but it still worked. "Thank you for everything you've ever done for us Tanya. I do appreciate it, so much."

Their talk in the morning proved to have ramifications in the afternoon. When Christy came home, Bella was already there and she could see Tanya was sitting a little closer to the human than normal. In looking at Bella there didn't seem to be an issue with that, so Christy just relaxed and let the casual intimacy stand. It didn't bother her at all, so if Bella was okay with this it was no big deal. Later that night, when Bella was busy cooking, Tanya scooted a little closer to Christy, almost tentatively, while they continued to watch a show on TV. Christy said nothing, and over the next few days the polite distance Tanya kept to both of them started to shrink. Christy had a very good inkling that she'd accidently given Tanya an idea she was trying. Rather than call her on it, Christy decided to wait it out, but if it started to bother Bella she'd have to say something.

….

"I know I have a pile of homework waiting for me, but I'm bored." Bella sighed heavily as she sat down at the kitchen table that morning. "Can we go out and do something today?"

"Have anything in mind?" Christy asked, surprised it actually took Bella this long to want to ditch her weekend homework routine. She'd lasted to halfway through their second semester, before deciding to put homework off. Since Christy's was always done at night, she was fine with time herself, and it wasn't her job to police Bella's homework. It would get done, Bella would never ditch it completely.

"I never did get to that used bookstore."

"You spend 12 hours a week in a bookstore, and that's what you want to do for fun?" Christy teased.

"It's not the same thing." Bella whined playfully. "I want to look at novels, as a future writer you should support me in my reading habits."

"Hey, Tanya, you up for a trip to the dusty old bookstore?"

Tanya was beside them in a moment, having been listening from her bedroom. "I could shop." Was all she said.

It only took a few minutes to be out the door and Christy drove them to the bookstore they were going to look over. Bella zoomed into the classics and the 'literature' as soon as they were inside and Christy shared a look with Tanya. "She's focused, I'll give her that, but I can't imagine actually liking those things."

"What do you read?" The blonde asked and it was such an ordinary question it was kind of nice to hear it. It came with no huge stories. Tanya was learning a lot more about Christy while living with her and some of the stories Christy found herself sharing gave the older vampire pause.

"Fantasy." Christy said and started toward the sign that said just that. "And I'm going to pick up some, because I'm fresh out. How about you?"

"Romance." Tanya said coyly as she added, "Erotica."

"Of course." Christy just grinned and then focused on her shelves. She had read some of the Sookie Stackhouse books before, of course, but she picked them up, stacking them into Tanya's arms, as the blonde offered herself as a pack mule. She then continued on to grab up a few other titles, before they passed a stack of handcarts and she grabbed it and had Tanya dump Christy's haul into it. "So Romance, let's check it out." They could both see Bella was engrossed in her section still, and the pile next to her was growing fast. That was one thing Bella never complained about others paying for her, whatever got her more books she was willing to put up with it.

"You like Romances too." Tanya said as they got closer to Bella and could see the titles she had accumulated, who was just an aisle away from their destination. "I could suggest some more contemporary ones."

"No, thanks. Contemporary Romances are so," Bella grimaced and her words trailed off, leaving no description at all.

"Have you read any?" Christy asked, never having seen one of those around her human at all.

Bella's expression showed that she was judging without ever having read and Tanya took up the cause. "I'll find you something different, something exciting. You have to read it." The blonde vampire smiled widely and then got to work on her task while Christy stayed near Bella a little longer.

"You know you're going to have to read it." Christy muttered with a sympathizing look. "You'll hurt her feelings if you don't at least try it."

"I know." Bella grimaced a little. "I hope it isn't as bad as my mother made them sound. What are you getting?" Bella glanced into the basket and pulled out one book. She developed a grin as she read the back. "Vampire novels?" Bella looked up at Christy with teasing eyes.

"Yes, vampire novels." Christy was self-conscious about that suddenly.

"That is so adorable." Bella brushed a soft kiss over her lips and then refocused on her books. "I might want to read those." She added with a playful smirk as Christy walked away.

"Those are vampire novels?" Tanya asked with a teasing lilt of her own when Christy got to her.

"Shut up." That got a laugh from the Denali and Christy just glanced around at the shelves Tanya was browsing. "Erotica?"

"She wants different." Tanya looked pleased.

"Isn't there another kind of different? She might not finish that, since she'll know you want to talk about it."

Tanya looked around oddly. "Do you see any cameras?"

"Are you going to shop lift?" Christy asked as she looked around as well, "No cameras."

"No, I'm not shop lifting, but she's almost done with her shelves and I want to find something. Put out your scary vampire vibes dear, I need to look very fast and the vote is in, you're the scariest of us." Tanya moved to the first shelf of the aisle and Christy glanced around to see what humans she was being asked to scare away. It was kind of ridiculous, but Christy focused on her battle ready attitude and a small grimace that showed her teeth and found that just making sure people looked at her was enough to give forty year old women a sudden interest in the classics, cookbooks, and the little knick knacks that were further away.

"Okay. Thank you scary vampire." Tanya teased and started moving faster. Christy could see what she was doing, as she pulled each book out, one and a time and glanced at it, pushing through shelf after shelf, and a small collection of books started to pile up above the shelves of books she was clearly considering. There had to be at least thirty shelves and Tanya only came away with ten books, but when she found the one that had her stopping her frantic search her expression was very satisfied. "Oh perfect." She practically purred and didn't even bother with the other books she'd pulled out, "That one is different." There was a teasing glint to her eyes as she went back to look more normally for a few for herself. Tanya managed a pile larger than Christy and Bella came just as Tanya gave up on finding more.

"Lunch?" Bella asked and Christy smiled. "No, for me." She added with a mock glare.

"Shame, I'm getting hungry myself." Christy teased.

"It is almost time for you to hunt." Bella added quietly, looking at her eyes.

"Yeah, but let's not worry about me just yet." Christy kept it upbeat, but the last time she hunted was the first time since the attack and Tanya told Christy that Bella had some pretty bad nightmares while she was away. Christy leaving the other two at the house to go to class still made her a bit tense. "You need lunch. We can get something on the way to buy Tanya more toys." Christy teased even as the vampire in question had stolen their baskets and walked them up to the cashier. "I do have money you know."

"Oh I know, and you work hard for it." Tanya rolled her eyes, "But mine grows on trees."

"I wish I had a money tree," The cashier played along, while she started to ring up the books. "But my luck I'd use the wrong fertilizer and kill it."

Christy left to hunt that night and she was gone a good full day, it wasn't ideal, but she'd hunted closer to home twice and three times might cause trouble. She was just getting home in time to get ready to go to class on Monday. It was a surprise to find Bella was sitting on her bed, ready to leave, her face buried in a book. "Really, you can't eat breakfast because you're reading?" Christy asked and watched Bella fumble with the book as she blushed red.

"Oh, I didn't realize it was so late." Bella stammered and slipped the book under her pillow, which was very suspicious, before turning and trying to distract Christy with chaos in getting out of the room. Christy moved on to take her shower and get dressed, wondering what was so embarrassing about that book. It looked like the one Tanya got Bella. Still, Bella took pains to hide it and it was just a book, so Christy decided to let her girlfriend have her privacy. It was probably erotica and Bella was new to that. By Bella's awkwardness and Tanya's sly looks, it took Bella three more days to finish that book.

It took Bella a week to offer that book to Christy with an embarrassed blush, it seemed like she waited until they were alone and Tanya was out hunting. "This was really different." Was all Bella said and she held it out. Christy pulled it closer and looked at the cover. It was a ménage romance. She flipped it over to see the description and that meant exactly what Christy thought it did.

"Yeah, this is different." Christy had never seen a book do this. "Cool." She wondered if Annie ever found these books.

"Cool?" Bella asked and Christy looked up to see her human had been worried about giving this over.

"I told you about Annie." Christy said gently. "I'd never condemn anyone for loving more, I've seen those relationships work."

Bella started to grin, "This one is really good." She whispered. "I thought maybe Tanya had given me porno, you know but it's a romance."

"Oh, this is that book?" Christy muttered and looked at it again. Tanya's pick, the one she said was 'perfect'. This said a lot about the blondes hopes and dreams.

"I was surprised at how good it was, and it was different. I liked that." Bella continued, and Christy wondered if Bella really didn't question why Tanya gave her that particular book. "I know it isn't fantasy, but I thought you might want to read it."

"Sure," Christy could see the joy in Bella's eyes at having discovered something new. "Now that we know what it's called, I bet we could even find more on Amazon." Bella seemed to like that idea and Christy left her lover to research it while she took that book with her into the living room to start reading.

"Clever little vampire." Christy whispered as she re-read the back first. Tanya was lobbying for something and Christy decided she'd wait and see if Bella figured out what it was and what the human thought about it. Clearly, as fiction, it was capturing Bella's attention.

Christy read the book without commenting much when Tanya was around, not wanting to bring up the conversation that was clearly coming too soon. Bella's three new books came in the mail just four days after she'd ordered it and her human was spending less time worrying about Edward or her own mortality and more time getting rather hot and bothered alone in her room with a book.

"We need more bread." Christy muttered as she looked over the kitchen to create a shopping list. She could pick up a few things for Bella while she was out tomorrow.

"How about I do the shopping?" Tanya said and Christy looked over to see Tanya looking at the list. "I think you have a bit of a job to do upstairs?"

"What?" Christy listened harder to see if there was a problem.

"She's given off pheromones like no one's business. I think I want to make myself scarce." Tanya explained and stared into Christy's eyes. "So you can get to business." Christy wondered if she'd blush at being sent up to service her lover, if she could blush. "So I'll catch a movie and get those groceries." Tanya smiled a little wickedly.

"Thanks." Christy managed as Tanya stole the list and made her way to the front door at vampire speed. It had to be a little bit of torture to smell a ready woman you want and not get any, so Christy understood the offer to leave was for all of their benefit.

The smell was ripe and ready and Christy felt her own eyes darken as she stood in the doorway of Bella's room and watched her lover reading with a slightly elevated heartrate. "Tanya said she wanted to get out and have some 'me time', so we're alone." Christy told Bella.

"Good." Her human looked like a predator when she put the book down on her nightstand and got up to move toward Christy. "God I need you." The way she groaned that had Christy moving immediately. Bella was an animal, she was never so wildly passionate and Christy found herself struggling to control her strength, to be careful, as Bella was not careful with her at all.

It took a while to sate Bella and have the human fall back onto the bed beside her. Christy waited, "Good book?"

Bella's chuckle was all the answer she needed. "Have you ever, well?" Bella started to stammer after she started her question.

"I've slept with more than one person at a time, I've slept with men and with women, but a lot of that was for my 'job', and it sounds really bad when I say it that way doesn't it?" Christy grimaced and Bella leaned into her, as if saying it was okay Christy was, at times, little more than a whore for the cause in her last life. That was how Christy took it, her history didn't usually bother her but telling her previously virginal girlfriend these things did make her a bit uncomfortable sometimes. "My experiences varied, but there were a few times that Mystique and I played together with others." Christy let the smile cross her lips, knowing Bella saw it. "If she was part of it, and it wasn't espionage, but our letting off steam after a hard mission, I let myself relax, I felt a bit safer and it was good then." She glanced at the book on the nightstand, "But what I did wasn't romance, it was sex. Annie did the romance, and she had something special with those girls, it was obvious when I watched them."

"Do you ever wish that we would do something wild like that?" Bella asked and Christy really thought about it, took the time to consider a real answer, because she wasn't one to give polite fiction to a real lover, a partner.

"Not just sex, my days of just sex are over. I would rather do without than do it without love." She looked up at a thoughtful looking human.

"But what Annie had?" Bella asked quietly.

"We should all be so lucky as to have what Annie had." Christy leaned up and kissed Bella. "But I have love right here and I don't have to go shopping for more. If something fell into our laps, someone we both loved, we could revisit this, but I think it would hurt to see you have sex with someone we don't love, I don't want that for you. I loved Mystique, not a full romantic love, but if I didn't have that I wouldn't have ever enjoyed the games we played nearly as much."

They cuddled and Christy stared up at the ceiling, feeling a little bad about how she answered that question, because she had a reason for doing it that way. If Bella really wanted to experience a threeway there was one woman she'd go to for that and Christy didn't want Bella hurting Tanya with a temporary offer of lust when the blonde vampire wanted more.

…..

"He is becoming dangerously depressed." Carlisle's voice was somber and quiet. "I'm worried. I know you suggested you'd return his arm when she was doing better. How is she?"

"She had nightmares for a very long time. He hurt someone she cared about right in front of her and then dragged her out into the snow to die." Christy had no sympathy to give that bastard. "I don't care if he's depressed, I want to know if he thinks he was wrong at all. If he still thinks he should attack us and steal her I'm not going to return his arm so he can play music and swing around the house."

"He says he had no idea, he wasn't thinking, and he didn't realize it was so cold out."

"Did he not realize she was screaming for him to let her go?" Christy growled and pulled her jeep over to the side of the road, because vampire or not this conversation was too distracting to do while driving. "Did he miss her begging him not to hurt Tanya?"

"I can never express enough regret for my son's actions, but please, come and see him yourself. Ask him these questions if you must, but please consider returning his arm. Esme cries all the time, and if he could just play music again she might start to see that this isn't forever. You promised that if we helped him heal his mind he could be whole again. I'm begging you." Carlisle's voice cracked and Christy just managed to not smash her steering wheel in frustration. She'd been very happy to not have to think about that asshole for a while, but the Cullens weren't the target of her anger, just him.

"I'm bringing my lie detector, Tanya will be able to tell if it is real remorse or not." Christy finally relented, "And if I don't like his answers, I'm not helping. You need to realize that she's just feeling safe now, and if he ever comes over again I'll have to kill him. If he's as depressed as you say he might try it anyhow, so if he earns his arm back you have to watch him more carefully."

"When can you come?" He asked quickly, as if trying to get her to commit to a time so she didn't change her mind.

"I have to ask Tanya if she's available this weekend for this. We're going to interrogate him." Tanya's gift was going to work against Edward this time.

"I didn't mean to almost kill her." Edward said and Christy didn't need Tanya's nod to see it was the truth. "I was trying to save her. She doesn't know what she's getting into, the evil that is a part of all of us." And he wasn't sounding as sane as he continued talking. "Her nightmares, I've heard, and I never wanted her afraid of me like that." Tanya nodded.

"Simple question, if you had that day to do over again now, would you attack Tanya and kidnap her again?" Christy asked and watched him as he considered his answer.

"I'd explain to her why she should leave, why being a vampire is wrong. I'd make her see."

"And if she still wanted to be a vampire, what would you do?"

"Walk away. I tried." Tanya shook her head no at his words. Still, a few months wasn't enough time to heal a broken mind. Christy wanted to walk away at that moment, but she looked up to see the pleading eyes of Esme watching this.

"Okay, if you heard that I was about to turn Bella would you try and stop us?" Christy asked as she stared at him.

"I can't now, I can't save her anymore." He looked broken as he whispered that.

"Would you kill her or imprison her to keep her from making her own choices?" Christy wasn't affected by his pain at the idea.

"I can't."

"That isn't an answer, you can't today but if you found a way, would you do that to her? She asked to be turned right away so you can't attack her like that, we did this to you because it made her feel safer staying human longer if you couldn't come near her."

"You did this so she could stay human?" His voice cracked and he looked over at Tanya, as if reading her to verify that. "No, no, oh god Bella." He looked horrified. "I could have talked her out of it before, there was a chance, but I ruined that."

He looked beaten as Christy talked, and Esme looked like she wanted to beg Christy not to be so harsh, but the woman held her tongue. The interrogation continued until Christy and Tanya had a sense of what he was willing to do and Christy had hammered in to his head the number of mistakes he made and how they affected Bella. In the end it was only because he was under watch and wouldn't have legs that she offered up that arm, that and that it made Esme happy.

"She deserves better." He spoke even as the arm was being handed over, his words weak but clearly his truth.

"No, she deserves what she wants." Christy corrected him in the same tone of voice.

"There isn't better than Christy Edward." Tanya spoke up, and it was a little embarrassing being there for such a positive review, but Tanya stared him in the eye. "Any woman would want to be treated the way Christy treats Bella. You don't get it, and it's sad. You'll likely stay alone until you learn to treat women like they have a brain of their own and their opinions matter."

"Funny thing is if I had what I wanted, Bella with me and human, you could have some of what you want and yet you stand there telling me to stay away. My staying away won't get you everything you want, you'll never have it." He glared at her and Christy knew Tanya well enough to know that verbal punch hit even though Tanya kept her poker face up well, sadly with his powers Edward knew he hurt her too and his little satisfied smile almost made her growl. She wanted to rip the arm away again and take the one she'd left him for trying to hurt Tanya and it too discipline to ignore his barb for now, because it was a private matter.

She turned to Esme, "Have a nice night." She didn't comment on what he'd done to Tanya, or the fact that none of them had said anything specific about this.

They could hear Esme scolding him about poking the dragon as they got in the car and drove away.

"I need to hunt." Tanya spoke quietly as they took the long lonely highway and Christy didn't like the beaten look to her.

"Don't let anything he says hurt you, he is lashing out because he's an ass and can."

"Oh I'm fine." Tanya growled, and that make Christy think it wasn't true at all. Christy felt uncomfortable with the topic in front of them, but she hated Tanya hurting more.

"He has no idea what you can and can't have." She focused on the road in front of them, but barely, as she looked out of the corner of her eye at Tanya.

"You do understand what he was talking about don't you?" Her voice was deeper, resigned and based on the slight slump of her shoulders Tanya knew that neither of them wanted to have this conversation now, but Tanya felt compelled to confess.

"I can guess," Christy pulled off to the side of the freeway and tossed the jeep in park so she could look at Tanya.

"I can move out when we get home." Tanya offered. "I really don't want to cause trouble in what you have."

"I'm not asking you to move out. That's not what I want." Christy frowned as she said it. "Tanya, we like having you there. It's a big house for two and it feels more right with three."

Tanya gave a humorless laugh. "Christy, you should really want me to leave. I want more than the house to feel right at three."

"I knew about that before I asked you to stay." Christy admitted and watched Tanya finally look up at her with a bit of shock. "I was only worried that staying would hurt you, I didn't expect you to be able to lobby for it."

"I'm sorry, but I haven't said anything directly. It was just a book, just a thought." Tanya looked a little guilty at her trick and Christy gave her a small reassuring smile.

"It was really very clever; I don't think Bella had ever even really thought about it, even though I'd told her that I'd known of people in a relationship like that before." Christy knew she was confusing Tanya, who expected a 'stay away from me and my girlfriend speech' for some reason. "Did you know Bella still reads romance like the one you bought her?"

"What?" Tanya's eyebrows drew together.

"You're doing better than you think you are, hold in there." Christy whispered. "Keep doing what you're doing, but just know something like this is going to take time. I was willing to wait for Bella when we started, before we were a couple. I was just silently bidding time until she was healed and could consider more. I didn't end up having to wait nearly as long as I thought I would, but that strategy is still sound. Just be here, be yourself, and it might come."

"You want me to try?" Tanya sounded stunned with the revelation.

"You're getting somewhere and I didn't think it was possible before. I really thought she was never going to understand something like that, but she's taken to the books like a fish to water and I'm thinking there might be a reason why. I don't want you to give up yet, just put in the time." Christy could see hope growing in Tanya's eyes. It felt a little odd having this conversation, but putting that hope there was nice to see. "Just don't try and rush it. It could take a while, we might be looking at after she's turned, I just don't know. It could be never, if she's just after the sexual experience I don't think it should happen. It needs to be love."

Tanya seemed to deflate a little and Christy spoke softly, gently, "You are easy to love Tanya, if she lets herself I could let myself." Christy rested a hand on Tanya's knee, since the vampire had shifted to face her it was closer. "We'll be going to sunny places where you can't really get out much this summer, starting with Cancun, but I think you'll want to come with us to see at least one of these places. I know you have a coven to run, but you need to be close if you want to create bonds. Do you understand? I don't want to take us away from you for months right now, but I do want to show her the world."

"You want me to seduce her?" Tanya asked.

"Not the way you and I are used to thinking of seduction." Christy sighed. "It's proximity that makes the heart fonder and I just want you to be around to continue what you are doing, maybe not all summer but some of it and I think you should continue staying with us for extended visits. You could even just move in officially. It would make her feel better having more vampires around."

Tanya chuckled. "And what human doesn't feel safer with more vampires around?"

Christy smiled at the hint of humor and patted Tanya's knee. "Are we good?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're good." Tanya let out a hint of a smile.

"And Edward doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. He's still thinking she's the Bella he left, but she's changed even since I started dating her. That's what happens when you date a young woman, they are still growing." Christy grinned. "She surprises me sometimes."

"So all of this comes down to her?" Tanya asked.

"I can't push her in this direction, it needs to be something she wants, and as sad as it is no relationship comes with guarantees. I want a chance to see if there is enough love here to keep all of us afloat, and I really hope we have it, but until we're interacting on that level we'll never be able to know for sure." Christy sighed. "Whether we get to try is up to Bella, because we both know you and I are up for it."

"And we can't rush her if we want her to be ready to really give it an honest try." Tanya sighed. "I've waited so long, I can try to be patient for a while longer, but it feels like it's just right there." Tanya reached out a hand as if to grab something. "You're saying if we pluck the fruit too early it won't be ready. I understand." Clearly she wasn't happy with it though. "But how do you know this? You haven't been in many relationships."

"I was a spy and I used everything as a weapon. I do my research." Christy let out a long breath. "It's what I was the least proud of in my work, doing that, but my ability to read people and emotions is what I used to keep my side alive." Christy looked over at Tanya, "You know this, it's a seduction that takes time. Surely not every man fell into your bed either, you needed to work for some of them."

"If I had to work too hard, I didn't take them." Tanya admitted. "If they weren't swayed by their penis easily I figured maybe they deserved to live."

"Oh." Christy looked out past Tanya at the snow covered trees. "I didn't get to walk away from situations. If we started and found out they were gay I became a man. I just had to make it work and make it work fast."

"I'm sorry you had to live that way." Tanya told her and Christy could see some tears that would never fall in Tanya's eyes.

"I saved a lot of lives." Christy said quietly and found her cheek being caressed by Tanya's hand.

"At what cost. No one should have asked that much of you. You would always say yes to saving lives, but you shouldn't have had to do this for it." Tanya tilted Christy's head down with her hand and leaned into to put a very gentle and long kiss to Christy's forehead, the only safe place to kiss at this point in their relationship. "You deserve all the real love you can take." Tanya whispered into Christy's hair before pulling back. "I'm going to run home, hunt on the way, and pack for our trip. I saw the list of places and I think I don't want to miss Cancun. If Irina sees me now, she'll pressure me to tell her what happened, because she can always read me and this is just between us right now."

It was a quiet ride home and Christy found herself really hoping Bella was home alone when she got there, but she knew that wasn't the case. Irina, Leah, Carmen and Eleazar were keeping her company. It was overkill, and Bella wasn't as nervous as she'd been in the beginning, but it was almost a party at the house when she drove up. Christy walked around and visit and smile. When people asked where Tanya was, she was 'out hunting'. When they asked how things went at the Cullens, Edward earned his other arm back, but she wasn't so stupid as to think he regretted much about what he did. He was still dangerously delusional, but incapacitated.

It took five hours of visiting before they were all gone and Christy sat down heavily on the couch. Bella took the seat next to her quietly. "What happened at the Cullens?"

"We determined that he is still an ass, but he doesn't feel he can do anything about it." Christy semi-growled. "If Esme wasn't so desperate I wouldn't have be as nice as I was, but he got what he wanted." She didn't specify, because even though Bella knew what it was she wasn't good about hearing that Edward was missing parts. Christy let Bella believe it was a one hand two feet deal, that he looked mostly normal, it was what Bella wanted to believe because she'd heard the truth but still believed that. "Edward made a crack about Tanya still being alone after a thousand years, it was his attempt to hurt her on our way out." It was mostly true.

"It bothers her, doesn't it?" Bella asked quietly, but it wasn't really a question. Clearly she knew the answer.

"A lot, it bothers her a lot." Christy sighed.

"Her and Kate and Seth all need to find someone."

"Well, Seth needs to wait for fate to step in and give him an imprint, and Peter and I know who Kate's mate is."

"You know?" Bella's voice rose a little.

"It's a friend of Peter's, Garrett. He's working on 'adopting him into the Whitlock coven' so when he visits after you're turned they'll meet." Christy gave Bella a weak smile, but the real problem after that, if things didn't change, was the Tanya would feel like the only one not chosen. Christy really hoped that didn't happen, and not just selfishly.

"Why doesn't he come now?" Bella asked, but then she started to frown. "It's because of me. He isn't coming because there is a 'human in the house'."

"It will need to be a coven visit, and Bree isn't up to extra challenges yet." Christy leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees, about to stand up, but she paused to add, "Don't feel weird about that. They need it to be a coven visit because you don't just walk up to someone and say, 'by the way, this one is your mate, Merry Christmas'. They will need to figure it out themselves, they'll need time."

"He told you this?" Bella asked, and it was clear why she would. Peter wasn't one to give lots of details.

"He said some and I'm good about reading between the lines in conversations." Christy said. "That and the books, I know it was Garrett for Kate."

"Is there someone for Tanya?" Bella asked.

"I didn't see anyone for her in the books. She was still alone and they'd met a lot of vampires in the end. She just didn't find one." Christy admitted quietly and watched the stricken look on Bella's face. "It doesn't seem fair at all, does it? She's one of the best people I've met in three worlds and no one wrote her happy ending." She added.

"No, no it doesn't seem fair at all. This is going to kill her, being the last one alone, she won't consider Seth, he's still a child." Bella's eyes grew watery in sympathy and Christy got up and headed into the kitchen, hoping that Bella would really think about that. She hadn't said too much, hadn't steered Bella's thoughts to anything in particular. In Christy's mind that sharing of the awareness of Tanya's situation was fair game.

Tanya came home the day before the flight, with luggage in tow and a new Kindle for all the books she'd be reading during the day. Christy got them a place on the beach, a little apartment on the beach and there was a view of the ocean that would fill the room. She had a shade in her own bag to put up over the balcony so that Tanya could slip outside if she wanted to. It wasn't going to be as fun a trip for her, between the hours of 6 and 6, when the sun was out, but Bella was already talking about how it was earlier over there and she'd be able to switch her sleeping easier so that she was out for the night more.

Tanya acted happy about the trip and she talked about all the romance reading she'd get done without Kate interrupting her. The hope did seem to make Tanya a little lighter and it made it clear that Tanya had been upset before, but she was good at covering it. Many of the destinations they had were new to Tanya, simply because what vampire would rush to the sun?

Christy was the only one that wouldn't have trouble with the sun, and that was because of her powers, but she still wasn't able to wear shorts or short sleeves. She had linen clothes to help 'protect' her from the sun. Bella had to watch out for sunburn and Tanya couldn't let herself out to glitter.

Christy made sure to pack her laptop, because unlike Bella she'd signed up for a full load of classes for the summer, all online. She'd be a Junior by the start of the next school year and that would be time to really get going on her major. She was looking forward to that, not at much as the masters, but still it would be more interesting. She wasn't going to do all her homework while Bella slept though, she was going to create some time for Tanya to spend some one on one time with Bella, taking her to dinner once in a while.

Christy's plan to include Tanya had been there even as she planned this vacation and every two weeks they changed where they were, to alternate between more urban areas and places with lots of wildlife. Every place they went would require someone to hunt twice, when they got there and when they were about to leave.

….

Brazil

It was what Christy considered the last leg of their summer trip, Brazil, but Christy and Bella were heading to Miami after this. That was a visit to Bella's mother, so not really a vacation in Christy's mind. It would be the first time she'd met the woman in person, and Tanya had already her flight set up to let just the 'couple' head to Renee's. It would be hard to explain why Tanya never left the house during the day for a full week.

It was Tanya's turn to hunt, her last hunt here, she could have waited to get home, but the 'food' was new and different here so Tanya wanted to get this hunt in first.

Bella wanted dinner in their rooms tonight so Christy was sitting on the balcony overlooking the ocean. "You tend to pick the beach places, I noticed." Bella teased and pulled Christy's attention back to her.

"I love the ocean." Christy admitted. She didn't add that the ocean had saved her when the world ended, that the Puget Sound was what she was originally remade of.

"I'll have to remember that." Bella smiled at her and then looked out over the view herself. The smile faded and Christy watched a thoughtful look cross Bella's face. "Did I ever tell you that it was Tanya that told me that if I thought I might ever want you that I shouldn't wait for my heart to heal? That you were a catch and there were at least two vampires in her own coven that wouldn't mind stealing you away and if any other vampires met you that number would likely just grow."

Christy thought about the blushes and talks that she only saw hints of and never heard between Tanya and Bella when they'd been in Forks. "No, I don't believe you ever said anything about that." Bella would have figured out who Tanya was talking about.

"She's been alone for a thousand years and she still helped me take the girl she wanted." Bella looked at her. "She told me you were waiting for me, that you'd clearly picked your first choice before she ever got there."

"I was waiting for you." Christy admitted softly and watched the tender look on her human's face at that admission.

"I love you." Bella whispered and her eyes reinforced that message. "I think Tanya's in love with you too. Haven't you noticed how she acts?"

"She's that way with both of us." Christy pointed out, knowing Bella was less likely to believe someone found her attractive.

"But still." Bella's eyes seemed to plead for Christy to believe her. "She wants something from us. The book, the looks, she wants something." Bella had figured it out, and Christy wasn't sure how long Bella had waited after figuring it out, but she probably had been waiting for Tanya to go hunting.

"Are you saying she wants to join us?" Christy asked, knowing the answer.

"I think she loves us and that book was a hint that three people can love. I've been thinking about it." Bella explained as if she were the first one to figure this out. "I think she's been 'dating' rather than just going out into town with us and she's so fragile about being alone, we can't hurt her, not with this."

They'd been on numerous 'dates' with Tanya this entire trip, for two months they've 'dated' at least three times a week. Christy was well aware of the change in the quality of their interactions, and Bella was the one that hadn't known. The conversations were more intimate, more emotional, sharing more of who they were. Sometime during that time Bella had caught on. It was a relief really, to have this conversation. Christy had been praying for this conversation not to take years, but she hoped Bella was ready for it.

"I think Tanya's been a little in love with us for over a year." Christy admitted and watched Bella's eyes widen. "Irina told me that Tanya was 'fascinated' by our relationship, including you, back in Forks. That the things Tanya bought us aren't typical of a coven leader, the house, the stuff in it, the cars, the free rides to college, they are all 'courting gifts', something people did a long time ago. Tanya felt she had no chance, but she couldn't stop herself from giving us 'tokens'. It was supposed to taper off once she got 'over us', but it still hasn't stopped has it? She added Brazil to our trip, a trip she was already paying for."

"What? You knew?" Bella's voice was a little breathy in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to embarrass her or hurt her. At first I thought she'd grow passed it, but when it continued I just didn't know what to do. I know you think I always know what to do, but I hate hurting people I care about and this situation is full of chances to hurt her. I didn't want you to be uncomfortable or awkward around her, it would have hurt and until you started reading the books I wasn't sure how to explain it." Christy knew she should be in the dog house for this. "I'm sorry."

"You said you'd never lie to me." Bella spoke and Christy realized her dog house was fully equipped.

"I was waiting for you to see it." Christy explained but she didn't beg. "I didn't want to color your opinion of her, because she is a good woman."

Bella looked a little lost as to what to do or say. After a moment she just turned and stared out over the ocean in silence, deep in thought. Christy waited for her to formulate her words, more than half expected them to be a request for some alone time.

"You want me to consider it." Bella whispered and Christy watched her human turn to look at it. "That's why you didn't tell me. I know how you think, that was it."

Christy was just a little caught off guard, but she answered the implied question. "I didn't want to influence you in this, but you can't tell me you don't love her a little. You had nightmares for so long after Edward hurt her and you just seemed to glow with happiness when she said she'd come with us on the trip." Bella was the one looking caught off guard then. "I am fine with it if you find you love her, as long as you love me too. I think you do, I know she loves you."

"And you?" Bella asked.

"I don't want to influence you." Christy pointed out, but she sighed heavily. "I could love her like that. I see the potential all over this, but I haven't let myself go because you aren't there with me."

That rendered Bella quiet again. "Part of the reason I love you is how you can say things like that and I know you mean every word." It was a grudging comment and Bella sighed heavily. "I don't know, I don't know what to do."

Christy was pretty sure, based on how Bella started this conversation that it wasn't true, but that Bella wasn't ready to say anything yet. To say it out loud made it real and something they'd have to 'do' something about. "Don't 'do' anything. Just think about this and if it is something you think you can do. Don't let our feelings influence you too much, because you're central to this Bella and if you aren't all in, everyone gets hurt." It was a reality call, and the pressure made Bella's eyes looked pained, but this was an important decision and Bella knew what Christy expected went into a huge decision like this.


	16. Chapter 16

Fairbanks, Alaska

It was becoming a regular thing to come home and find an Amazon box on the porch. Bella said she was doing research for a class she was taking, her Sociology of the Family course, but their school did own a large library and apparently it had nothing she needed. Christy bent down and picked up the latest box and unlocked the door. "Didn't hear the delivery?" She asked Tanya as she set the box down on the entry table for Bella.

"No, I was planning Bella's birthday party." Tanya said and wiggled her phone at Christy, before hitting a button and putting it in her pocket. "Some Cullens wanted to come."

"Seriously or are they thinking to beg at Bella to get me to do something?" Christy asked flatly, not liking it if they were going to try and play that card at all.

"No, no, it's Alice and Jasper and apparently Rosalie really wants to come."

"And with Rosalie comes Emmett." Christy added and sighed. "I don't think Bella will have a problem with that, but run it passed her, in case she has a problem with them and birthday parties together." Bella had talked with Alice and Jasper since then, and there was some somewhat friendly time with Rosalie and Emmett when they all stayed with the Denalis. "I don't think they'll do it again, but how about you hint they should hunt before coming?"

"Already done, all of it. I texted Bella once Alice asked for the invite."

"Twenty, no longer a teen." Christy smirked at that thinking about how young Bella was compared to everyone else.

"I know, and Alice wanted a party large enough for that event, but she backed down quickly. I never get her to agree with me that fast." Tanya smiled at Christy and her eyes were giving her a tender look, like Tanya did sometimes now. "It's nice to have a scary vampire in the coven at times, I don't have to argue as much."

"Cute." Christy shook her head and picked up the box again. "I'm just gonna put this on her bed."

"So why were you late coming home?" Tanya asked even as Christy ran upstairs. Christy set the box on Bella's pillow and then turned to answer.

"I saw an opening for a writing tutor and went to talk to them about it."

"A job, you?" Tanya looked a little confused when Christy got back downstairs.

"I want to be ready to teach and if I can do tutoring until I get into the grad school, and then switch to student teaching, the transition will be smoother to online teacher." Christy explained and moved into the living room to sit on the couch. Tanya returned to sitting as well when Christy got comfortable. "It's all part of my evil plan." She teased and started to look for the remote, but Tanya had it in her hand much faster.

Tanya didn't, however use it. Her expression was more serious as she shifted to face Christy on the couch. "Something is up with Bella." She said as seriously as she looked. "It isn't just her 'mystery packages' she isn't sharing. She's different with me."

Christy had seen that as well. Bella was shy at times with Tanya, spoke softer, and she could be caught just staring when she thought no one was looking. It was clear to Christy that Bella was really thinking about it, but she wasn't overly subtle. "Is it a bad thing?"

"I don't think so, I think it might be good." Tanya had a hint of a smile.

"Well, keep on keeping on." Christy patted Tanya's knee and then let the hand rested there for a moment, before staring into yellow eyes. "You doing okay?"

"I'm trying." Tanya sighed heavily. "I find patience is so much harder than I thought it would be."

"I know."

"Well," Tanya's sigh signaled a new topic. "Bella's party is set and we just need to drag her to Denali this weekend kicking and screaming."

Bella didn't really kick and scream, and she was only somewhat nervous. That seemed to have more to do with Rosalie having asked to come, and Christy could tell Bella was afraid they'd bring up Edward. It didn't seem to be a problem though, because clearly someone sent out a memo and no one talked about that asshole at Bella's birthday party.

It seemed fall was full of reasons to go to Denali. After Bella's birthday it was just a few months and they went back for Thanksgiving. They would have gone to Forks with Leah, but Charlie had to work it this year. Carmen and Bella made a small chicken, since there was only one human eating and Bella threatened to make Kate eat some pumpkin pie when she kept making fun of the little bird.

They came back from Denali the day before classes started again and Tanya had stayed behind for a while to visit with everyone and get a family hunt in. It left the two of them alone and Christy was using that time well. "I want to try something new." Bella said with a hint of a shy smile as she stood naked at the foot of her bed. Christy sat up a little and gave Bella a questioning look and a hint of a grin.

"What does my human want?"

"I want to tie your hands to the headboard." Bella's words had Christy's eyes widening. "So I can do whatever I want."

"Oh god." Christy groaned, and she gritted her teeth against the arousal that hit her at that idea. They had never once talked about play like this, so Christy had no idea where Bella was picking up these ideas. "I don't know if that's a good idea Bella."

"Why? You could easily escape if you had to." Bella moved toward her with a seductive sway to her hips and a wicked smile, "I see you liked the idea."

"That's just it. I like it too much." Christy grimaced as Bella looked confused. "It takes all I have to control my strength and speed with you, everything. If I get too worked up I could hurt you."

"Oh really?" Bella smirked and clearly didn't catch the gravity of the situation. That trust Bella had in her was a two edged sword right now.

"Bella a twitch could break your arm. I have to stay in control."

"And you think you'd lose control if I tied a little bit of cloth around your wrists?" Bella asked and stared into Christy's eyes.

"I want," Christy growled and looked away. "I really like the idea of being at your mercy, but I need to be the one to hold me down, because I don't know if in the heat of the moment I might trust that cloth and we know it can't hold."

"And if Tanya held you down?"

It was so unexpected and the visual, and her body's response were immediate. Her eyes went instantly black. "She could do it, couldn't she, she could keep you still for me." Bella continued in a heated voice that made the idea more and more attractive.

"Bella." Christy's voice cracked and she stared into Bella's eyes to see a stranger there, one with more confidence than she thought possible in the woman.

"The thought of that makes you crazy, you try not to tell me what you want, but I can see it." Bella didn't sound mad, she even leaned closer and kissed Christy's lips, before speaking softly. "You don't understand that my opinion isn't the only one that matters here, I need to know what you want, what you need. You need more, I'm not strong enough for you to let go."

"You will be."

"But we both like the idea of Tanya being here, in our bed, in our home." Bella pulled back and the confident strong woman that had been in the bedroom for a moment because regular, slightly insecure Bella a bit as she stood there. "I need to show you something."

Her heartrate was a little faster and she was a hint paler, so Christy sat up with some concern. "I've been doing my research, I managed to fit it into my class, it's the topic of my Sociology of the family class. I have all the research and I just have to write it now. I know you aren't grading it, but someone is." There was a nervous smile. "This is my research." Bella pointed into the trunk, so Christy had to get up and move around the bed to look inside it. Christy could see held several books. Christy took a few steps closer and her eyes widened a little to see things like the Polyamory Workbook in there, several books with that subject actually.

"It's harder to do interviews with people on something like this but I found online groups." Christy was impressed and she looked up at Bella to see Bella nibbling on her lower lip. "Too many people were just talking about the sex, but I found some people that seemed to love their partners and I spent more time talking with them."

"I'm impressed. You're doing a great job." Christy smiled and glanced at the books again. She hadn't even ordered books. Christy's research was more internal, more relational. She had spent her time analyzing how this could affect them and the coven, how the three of them might feel, she hadn't gone to books, but just used her skills in understanding people.

"I want to try it." Bella spoke softly and Christy looked up.

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be." Bella sighed. "I don't really know how to get started, or what to do. I don't feel ready for sex with her, I mean we were together for months before we ever did it."

"So all that hot talk was just talk for now?" Christy teased just a little and got her human to blush.

"I'd like to see you lose control." Bella whispered in that sexy voice and Christy took a slow breath to calm her hormones. "And until I'm turned, for you to really lose control I'd need to be a few feet away. I think she could make you buck and scream."

"Oh my god." Christy would be blushing if she could and Bella clearly knew that because she grinned wickedly. Bella had proven she had a previously unused skill in hot talking, and she didn't even make it dirty.

Bella stayed full of confidence with her decision while Tanya was away and she'd talk about what they could do with some energy and enthusiasm, but once Tanya stepped into the house Bella became rather shy and Christy just sighed and decided to let Bella take the time she needed to go from talking about it with her to talking about it with Tanya. There was no point telling Tanya the decision had been made, since it looked like there was a bit of a stall in the execution of it. "It's up to you, when you're ready you can let her know." Was all Christy said to Bella, as reassuringly as she could be. "When you're ready you'll be able to do it, and if I do it we might be jumping the gun."

Bella made her decision over Thanksgiving weekend, and Tanya came home to live with them for a week before they left for Forks. It wasn't the 'right time' when they only had a week. They lived in Denali for January break, while Christy took another online class and everyone else was there, there was no way they'd have privacy and Kate would tease. Over two months went by and nothing much changed, except Bella was shy with Tanya and Tanya was confused but trying to be more gentle with Bella.

It was just after Valentine's day and Christy knew Bella had been kicking herself for not saying something in time for them to try and do something together on that day. A snow storm had hit hard the day after and outside looked impassable and far too frigid for Bella, but they were all fully equipped to stay in the entire three day weekend and the fire roared in both fireplaces, making the place cozy for the human among them.

Christy hadn't mentioned to Tanya that Bella was aware yet, because the vampire would obviously think that if the decision was made they were ready to do something about it, but Bella was still building up her courage. Still, watching the way Bella stood in the doorway watching the blonde vampire read, it was clear Bella was deep in thought about this. Christy stayed in the shadows and watched her lover watch another woman and wished she could know what Bella was thinking.

"If Christy is teaching you how to stalk prey, you aren't doing it right." Tanya said with a teasing voice, not looking up from her book for a moment longer, before putting her finger in it and closing it to look up at Bella. "Even if I were human I would be able to feel that stare. What's going on?"

Christy moved to finish her trip upstairs, intending to give them privacy, and thinking it was probably not going to happen again. Bella had tried to bring this up with Tanya before and changed her mind.

"You stay with us a lot. Do you miss the others?" Bella asked, and Christy could hear a new tone in her voice, tentative, shy. She was dodging again and Christy sighed and felt bad for Tanya, who didn't know where she stood.

"I've been with my sisters for a thousand years. A few weeks away is nothing compared to that." Tanya said with good humor. "And it's good sometimes to get away."

"Oh," there was a sound that Christy thought meant Bella had moved to sit down in the living room with Tanya. "I was thinking next year we could maybe go see the Mediterranean. Spain, Greece, Italy."

"Not Italy dear, it is rather risky for us right now." Tanya said and Christy barely nodded in agreement. "The Volturi are strong there and until you're not a human it would be best not to advertise we have you in our coven. They might not let us wait for you to be ready."

"Oh."

"But there is still so much to see and we can do other parts of Europe, China, Australia, I'm sure Christy has ideas and when you are turned we could hit Italy."

"That would work." Bella sounded a little off and uncertain again. "My life is no where near normal." Bella sighed and Christy wasn't sure if she could hear hint of a smile or not. She worried for a moment until Bella spoke some more, "I never thought this life was possible. So much is possible that I never realized would be."

"Anything in particular you're talking about?" Tanya asked.

"Oh, no, just, I'll see the world before I'm twenty five and I used to think I'd never get passed North America. I've already gone beyond my dreams on that." Bella stammered, and Christy wondered if Tanya's lie detecting power was going off.

"Is that it?" Tanya asked slower and Christy smirked just a little as she sat in her room listening to Bella being called on her lie.

"It's nothing." Bella stammered for a moment and then sighed. "Actually." Her voice trailed off and Christy waited for it. "Well, no."

"Bella?" Tanya's voice was softer, gentler. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know how to do this." Bella admitted and Christy sat up straighter and turned to stare at the doorway, listening harder. "I've been trying to figure it out, but I'm just lost."

"What do you need?" Tanya asked softly and Christy got up as quietly as she could and moved to the stairs, where she could see this. She sat on the landing and could see Bella sitting on the chair and Tanya moving to kneel in front of her. Tanya glanced at Christy and Christy just shook her head, this was Tanya's show. Their interaction was so fast Bella didn't see it. Bella knew Christy was home, that this wasn't really private, but it was between the two of them. Christy started to wonder if Bella was finally going to do it.

"Patience." Bella said after a long moment and looked up at Tanya. "I'm going to make mistakes, because I really don't know how this will work. What I'm really scared of is that I'll hurt you, because I think that's the only thing Christy would never forgive me for, and I don't know if I could handle having hurt you, but we'll never know if we don't try."

"Bella?" Tanya's voice was a little higher with that one worded unasked question and Christy let out a long breath as she watched her human. Bella was taking ownership of her own relationship with Tanya in this and Christy smiled as she watched it.

"Do I ask you out on a date with just me, or do we all do it together?" Bella asked and Christy's smile grew as she watched that.

Tanya looked stunned, but she squatted down in front of the chair Bella was sitting on and just stared for a moment at the human. "I think there will be times when it is just one on one and sometimes it might be all three of us. How do you want to do this?"

"Is it okay if I want it to be all of us at first?" Bella asked.

Christy whispered for Tanya, "I have no problem with that."

"I know she'd be fine with that," Tanya smiled and it looked more happy than Christy had seen in a while.

"What shall we do?" Tanya asked and Christy stood up and went downstairs and into the room as they started to plan a very average first date, it was something they'd done a hundred times, going out to eat, for Bella, and a movie. It was just changing the name of it that made it different.

Bella smiled at both of them, before rushing upstairs to take her shower and Christy turned to see Tanya staring after her. "We still go at her pace."

"Of course." Tanya turned to look at Christy and hesitated for a moment, before moving closer and pulling her into a hug. "Christy." There wasn't a need to finish the words, Christy could feel the gratitude and longing oozing off of the blonde as she held Christy tight and Christy wrapped her arms around Tanya as well.

"You are far too special to not try this." Christy whispered into Tanya's ear. "You are beautiful inside and out and I really want this to work."

…

"Just so you know, I open the doors, and I drive the car and Tanya pays the bills. That's how this relationship is going to work." Christy jokingly told Bella as they sat across from the human in the restaurant. Bella had asked how they thought it might work, because her books didn't really talk about this.

"Oh is it now?" Tanya said her voice just slightly deeper, hitting a sexy tone she hadn't used on them before.

"Of course, you said you were in the habit of taking care of 'kept women' and I want the full treatment." Christy grinned wickedly at the blonde and could see Bella was blushing as she watched the two of them.

"And what about me? I play the helpless female?" Bella shook her head in denial, and she sounded irritated, but the hint of a smile proved she was lying about that.

"Oh please, we all know you wear the pants in your relationship with Christy, I expect you'll be keeping her in line." Tanya made that suggestive sounding and Bella blushed again, but their work was done, because Bella was starting to relax. This first date was clearly nerve-wracking for her and so Christy resorted to teasing.

"Christy does like to be kept in line." Bella managed through a red face and Christy noticed a curious expression on Tanya's face at that completely unfair comment.

"Please, this is pick on Bella day. Get it right." Christy covered up quickly, but Tanya's knowing little smile was disarming.

Their orders were taken and Christy ordered a large meal so that she could hide the fact that she didn't really eat any of it by moving the food around and Tanya claimed she was just there to keep them company so they didn't both have to fake eat.

When the waiter walked away there was a fresh order of awkward at the table and Christy sighed and glanced at Bella and Tanya. It was cute in a way how both of them were worried about 'scaring' the other away, but they used to talk all the time and this was sad.

"So tell me about how you keep Christy 'in line'." Tanya smiled wickedly and Christy resigned herself to being the topic of conversation all dinner long. That was Christy, the great ice breaker.

As Christy sat there it dawned on her that dating at this point really made no difference. They'd dated and had all those conversations with Tanya for over a year now and the only thing they needed to add to their relationship was intimacy and sexuality. It might not even take Bella long to realize these 'dates' were not different at all to what they'd been before, other than the sexual teasing, which apparently was focused on Christy right now.

...

"What is going on over there?" Rosalie spoke up quickly and Christy resisted the urge to just hang the phone up again. "Edward is literally climbing the walls. We had to stop him from running and you know damn well he can't run. He only made it to the end of the driveway before we dragged his ass back and Alice isn't talking. It was one of her visions, and only Bella would make him that crazy when the idiot was starting to calm down lately." She proved not to be a completely nosy bitch with her softer words. "Are you turning her? It's early, is she okay?"

Christy chuckled and glanced into the living room to see Bella glanced at her from her spot on the couch, where all three of them had been talking softly and things had looked promising for at least a round of goodnight kisses after that first date. Apparently it was something that was able to trigger a vision, and idiot Edward got to see he was wrong about Tanya's chances. "Bella's just fine." She reassured Rosalie and looked at Tanya, mouthing, "I want to take this, I'll be back." She got a nod and Christy went out the back door and away from the house enough to not distract the other two.

Her voice was more serious. "He's upset because Bella and I are now dating Tanya."

There was a pause on the other side of the phone. "Really?" Rosalie asked with a hit of amusement in her voice. "Oh this is priceless."

"They're making a Vampire BellyBear sandwich?" Another familiar voice was heard over the phone that proved Rosalie wasn't alone.

"Not yet." Christy smiled, knowing this was going to be something Edward overheard in Rosalie and Emmett's mind, especially Emmett because there was no way he wasn't going to think about this all night. It was a bit evil of her, but Edward had attempted to come here, though since he didn't make it she couldn't really kill him for what he was probably going to do. She only had this. "We're looking to start a serious relationship, so it won't only be sexual. We started finally dating, or calling it dating, tonight."

"And Alice had a vision of your sexy times." Rosalie asked though she clearly knew. "I hope this call didn't ruin anything for you."

"I might not miss their first kiss if I hang up soon."

"Oh, oh, get off the phone Rose, she is a lucky bitch and we can't make her miss that. If you were about to lay the mack on a girl I wouldn't want to miss that." He made his voice higher more effeminate. "Tell me all about it later." And the call ended.

"I might just adopt them." Christy muttered to herself before making her way back inside.

"Is everything okay?" Bella asked when she got back into the living room and Christy smiled at her.

"Everything is fine. I think we should invite Rosalie and Emmett to visit sometime soon though."

"Oh, I was worried it was Alice." The unsaid part of Bella's comment was that Alice had a vision of something or Edward was a problem. Bella clearly didn't expect Rosalie to call and check on her and rather than ruin the mood of their first group date, Christy didn't bring up Edward's race to freedom. She might tomorrow, but not tonight.

"Nope, just Rosalie." Christy sat down and smiled at the other two. "I think she's not as afraid of me as she used to be."

"Well, that's good." Tanya gave her a look that said that she knew there was more to the story, and she might have overheard some of it. What was funny is that Bella gave her a very similar look as well, but neither of them asked right now. This was going to be an interesting relationship.

"I think the first thing we need to do as a triad is decide where the front door is for us, since we all live together." Christy added during a moment of quiet. Bella gave her a confused look and Christy spoke softly with a hint of a tender smile. "Where do I get to kiss women goodnight?" She glanced over at Tanya when she said that as well. Bella and Christy were well passed kissing goodnight at the front door, but they were starting over a bit with Tanya.

"Oh," Bella blushed but there was a hint of a smile at Christy's question. "Um, bottom of the stairs?"

"That works. I spend most of my time downstairs, so when you go upstairs it is kind of like you're leaving me." Tanya looked amused. "Are you thinking we should test that 'door' out tonight?"

Christy shared a look with Bella and wished she could subtalk to her with Tanya there, because she was using her eyes to say she wanted to kiss the blonde and luckily Bella understood what Christy's eyes were saying. Bella blushed and her heart raced a bit when Christy did kiss Tanya goodnight, a nice slow soft kiss. Tanya leaned in closer to Bella after that and gave her a very similar kiss. "You two are going to be such a challenge, but I look forward to it." Tanya whispered to Bella and smiled as she backed away. "Goodnight my ladies."

Christy was pulled into Bella's room firmly and given a very passionate kiss goodnight herself, but even though Bella seemed willing to do a little more, they didn't that night. It just seemed rude to make love after a three way date without Tanya and it was far too soon to include her. Christy barely managed to grumble as she walked back to her own room, seeing that this relationship was actually going to mean a lot less sex for her until they were ready to share. More heat, less action.

…..

The goodnight kisses became more natural over their next two dates, and started to take longer. Christy found watching them both kiss was amazing and she felt like the touches were on her own body when she saw Tanya caress Bella's hip, or Bella wrap her arms around Tanya's neck to pull her down closer for those kisses. Bella was much the same, because they could hear her heartbeat pick up speed as they kissed. Tanya wasn't shy about saying how beautiful Christy and Bella were to watch and a new dynamic in their relationship was create where being the one left out wasn't being left out at all.

"Mom made me promise to go to a party, to live a little, and I heard this was the big one before Spring break." Bella didn't sound happy about it and honestly Christy wasn't thrilled either, but Tanya was all in to see what a college party was like. "She's worried I'm not doing the crazy and wild now and I'll regret it later."

"So telling her you're living with two women is out? Because I think that would fill her crazy and wild quotient and leave us to quieter nights." Christy let herself pout just a little. She did not agree with Renee at all and if the woman had a brain in her head she'd have warned Bella about date rape drugs before sending her off on this mission. Instead Christy did that and told Bella to never put her drink down and that she'd sniff it when it was given to Bella to make sure it was never tainted.

"It might be fun, give it a chance." Tanya said.

"We'll just stay an hour or two and then leave. I can tell her I did it and she had better stop nagging me about it." Bella added as they parked.

"So you'll be drinking alcohol tonight?" Tanya asked as they got out. "That will be fun to see." Her smile was wicked but Christy just focused on the level of noise already coming out of the frat house. She smiled and prepared herself to act, but she felt like she was going in on a mission and these boys were all hostiles she'd have to watch out for.

Christy and Tanya carried a cup around with them and poured the beer into houseplants as the party moved on, so it seemed they were drinking as well. Bella and Tanya were dancing and getting a bit of attention as they did that. Christy kept an eye on Bella's cup the entire time in case the wagging tongues got bold. Bella was moving loosely and smiling a bit much which was a clear hint she wasn't one to ever be able to drink a lot.

"Hey, you're crazy hot." A masculine voice said behind her and Christy sighed and glanced over her shoulder to see some football player sized dick wearing what might be a fake jersey with the number 69 on it, giving her sex eyes. "My buddies and I wanted to know if you might like to come to our after party party." His eyebrows danced in innuendo and when she turned to face him he 'accidently' knocked her drink out of her hand. "Oh man, I'm sorry that's shitty." He stared down at his own cup, full, in his hands. "I just got this one, you take it and I'll get another."

"Thanks." Christy took the cup and watched with relief as he left, but she subtly sniffed her new drink and found what she expected in it. "Idiots." Christy's eyes narrowed and she looked up to see Tanya staring at her with a serious expression on her face.

"Did they really spike your drink?" Tanya whispered and the music drowned it out from the humans.

"Date Rape number 69." Christy grimaced and watched Tanya snarl, alarming Bella in her arms.

Tanya leaned down as if to kiss Bella's neck and whispered a little louder for her to hear, "That big ape with the 69 on his jersey just tried to spike Christy's drink. Asshole was unlucky enough to try and rape the only person in here that kills rapists."

Christy expected a bit of horror, maybe if her lover was angry a comment about the man deserving what he'd get, because Christy considered what he'd done volunteering to be her lunch, but what she didn't expect was for Bella to storm over to the large man and when he leaned down to hear her Bella swung hard. "You fucking bastard, you leave my girl alone or I'll make you regret," Tanya was on Bella immediately and pulled her away before the asshole could recover and try and fight back. He had a good bleeding nose and he'd rocked back with the hit.

Stunned, Christy still managed to rush at human speed to join Tanya and helped restrain a slightly tipsy and very angry Bella while looking like it was hard to do. "He was going to hurt you, I don't care that he couldn't, he was going to try." Bella growled quietly at them and when he started to come at them looking pissed Christy let go of Bella and stepped forward, glaring as coldly as she could.

"Walk away." Was all she said as she stared him in the eyes. This many witnesses made what she wanted to do impossible, but she bared her teeth a bit and snarled. He took two steps backwards when she did that.

"I think we're done with this party." Tanya said solemnly and wrapped her arm around Bella's shoulders as they made their way for the door.

They were just getting into the car when Bella started to ramble angrily, "I have to watch you kill someone before I'm turned. I vote for him." It made Christy wonder if she'd miscounted how many drinks Bella had.

Tanya spoke up more quietly, even as she pulled the car away from the house. "You won't find a target Bella will agree with more. I'm tempted to switch diets tonight just for this. He was too suave about it, I could ask him, make him lie to me, but I suspect you have a serial party rapist there. Perfect for your dinner."

"Yes, see!" Bella spoke louder than necessary. "Let's go back and get him!"

"We can't take him from the party." Christy sighed as she looked at the stubborn look on Bella's face. "Bella, I love that you tried to protect me, but it was too public. If he disappeared tonight the police would be looking for us tomorrow, based on all of those witnesses." Christy hated to say this, thinking it was possible he was still going to find someone for tonight. "He has to live through the night." She couldn't risk Bella's safety and freedom for anyone. "We need to give people time to forget what you looked like."

Bella cried and burrowed into Christy's side. "I'm sorry, I screwed up."

"She meant it." Tanya said quietly as she started driving again. "She wanted you to go get him."

"You didn't screw up. I never taught you how to get away with murder." Christy reassured Bella hiding that she was actually surprised her peaceful future animal drinking lover was ready to watch a man die tonight. Even Tanya's willingness was nothing compared to knowing Bella was willing to go there.

It would take a longer term plan, but Christy had the skills for it. She was going to figure out who he was and look him up when it was time for Bella to see a human hunt. If Bella was ready to do this sober, they could get rid of him before the end of the semester and save next year's girls from him. Even with Bella's current attitude, Christy didn't think she'd get a red eyed girlfriend out of Bella's change, but maybe seeing her kill wouldn't have to be a hurdle they would overcome in their relationship.

Tanya parked her car on the street, because the garage was full and they made their way inside. "The party sucked but the company was wonderful." Tanya said with a smile as they approached the agreed upon 'end date' spot in the house.

The buzz of a phone on vibrate distracted Christy and she looked down to Bella's pocket, but Bella just pulled it out, looked at who was calling and turned it off. "I'll talk to her later."

"Alice?" Tanya asked with a sigh. "She might be alarmed at the kill we were planning."

"Well, we didn't get to do it so I can talk to her later." Bella muttered, clearly unhappy. Bella was holding Christy's hand and looking at her intently. "I love you and I'd hit him again if I could."

"You did it well, good hit, he was way bigger than you and you rocked him back." Christy smiled just a little as she said that. Christy pulled Bella's hand up and kissed her knuckles, which were a bit rough and some might bruise, but she smelled mostly okay.

"I know, two vampires and a human walk into a party and the only one drawing blood is the human." Tanya teased quietly as she watched them.

Christy leaned in to kiss Bella's lips and her human moaned into her mouth and moved her body closer, rubbing against Christy with clear intent. Christy wondered if it was the alcohol or a mild case of battle lust that had her girl ignoring her shyness to practically dry hump her in front of Tanya. The addition of yellow eyes witnessing this made it harder to stop her human and she let her kisses get very passionate before she stopped. It hurt to stop, Tanya hadn't hunted in over a week and they only made love when Tanya wasn't there.

Bella's kiss with Tanya was firmer, and a hand did move to gently cup a breast before she pulled back and stared into Tanya's darkening eyes. "I had a great time dancing with you." Bella whispered a little breathlessly.

"It was great fun." Tanya manage and Christy kissed her a bit more sedately, already trying to control her lust, which wasn't going anywhere tonight, but Tanya moved in to kiss Christy's neck and then whispered into her ear. "Take care of Bella tonight. You know she smells ready and she isn't ready for me." Christy stared into Tanya's eyes. "You've already put in the time waiting for her, you don't need to wait with me." Tanya smirked just a little as she said that.

"Are you sure?" Christy asked and glanced at Bella, who stood on the second stair waiting.

"If she is going to need you, and I suspect she will, I'll go on a long walk. Just tell me to leave if you want me to." Tanya offered and kissed her again, before letting her go.

"Goodnight." Christy said as she looked back at the pleased looking blonde, before walking with Bella upstairs.

Christy moved to kiss Bella goodnight again at Bella's bedroom door, like they did and the human looped her arms around Christy's neck to pull her closer, but when Christy started to pull away after the kiss those arms moved and gripped Christy's shoulders, pushing her back into the wall as Bella moaned and started to gently nip at her neck. "Oh god." Christy groaned and leaned back, exposing more neck to Bella's lips and teeth. The human shoved her hard into the wall and Christy's breathing stopped before it became more ragged.

The hand over her crotch was a shock and Christy's eyes widened as that hand pulsed against Christy's core through her pants. "Bella." Christy managed to say.

"Come in tonight." Bella muttered into Christy's lips. Christy followed Bella into her room. "I love you." Bella said while she worked to unbutton Christy's shirt. Buttons were sent flying at times and Christy would have to fix the shirt tomorrow, but she really didn't mind how Bella was in such a rush to get to her.

Bella pushed a little on Christy and knowing the bed was behind her Christy let herself be manhandled onto it. Bella appeared to be trying to claim her, own her, and Christy was gasping for breath in very little time. "Hold the headboard." Bella told her with intense eyes and Christy rushed to obey.

"Bella." Christy called out softly. "Tanya is still here." She didn't ask Tanya to leave, in that moment something inside her kept her from being able to request that, but Bella had to know.

"I don't care." Bella said as she leaned down and bit Christy's nipple firmly. "You're mine right now and that bastard tried to take my vampire." Bella was mad, and very different. The alcohol removed enough of her filters to show Christy a part of Bella that made her wetter than ever.

"You like a little discipline do you Christy?" Tanya's sensual voice reached her just as Bella's lips closed over Christy's clit.

"Yes, oh god yes."

Hours later, after Bella was asleep, Christy had to force herself to go downstairs and if she were human she'd have a painful looking blush on her face. "I left my textbook down here." She muttered to an amused looking Tanya, who was reading something while lying on the couch.

"I touched myself listening to the two of you." Tanya whispered and Christy almost dropped her book. "You beg so nicely. I look forward to making you beg." Tanya got up and seemed to slink toward her, full of sexual confidence. "You smell delicious." Tanya was easily seducing Christy and Christy licked her lips and leaned in closer. "I'll wait for Bella, but do I need to wait for you?" Tanya asked breathlessly into Christy's lips before capturing Christy's lips into a kiss. "I'm throbbing." Tanya moaned.

"Oh god I want to help you, but not without talking to Bella first about it. She thinks we're going to be together for the first time all together." Christy pulled Tanya closer and kissed her neck, slowly scrapping her teeth along the column of her neck, a move she couldn't do with Bella but that felt so good. Tanya's skin wasn't fragile, she wasn't fragile and Christy wanted to explore that. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but we can't do anything without her buy in yet, or we could ruin everything. I don't want her feeling left out."

"I understand, I don't want to hurt her either, I'm just so," Tanya said tightly, clearly aroused to a desperate point and Christy wondered if she could go upstairs and wake Bella up to ask about this, but the human was sleeping and not ready for a conversation like this.

When Christy went upstairs she was tortured by the sounds of Tanya pleasuring herself alone when Christy was right there and so eager to help. Her homework was too hard to concentrate on and it didn't get done. Once Tanya punished her with that in such a painfully delicious way, she left to hunt and Christy was the only one awake in the house.

"Bella, I need." Christy pleaded as she crawled onto Bella's bed after ten minutes of trying to refocus on anything. "Please," Christy muttered even as she uncovered her human's body and lowered her lips between her legs. "Please let me." She whispered into Bella's sex.

"Oh god." Bella woke up quickly at the touch of Christy's tongue. "Christy?" Bella tugged on her hair a bit, pulling her away.

"More, I need more." Christy explained, scared a bit about how little control she was feeling at the moment. She never woke Bella up for sex, her human needed sleep, but the urge was too strong to wait and lack of sleep wouldn't kill Bella, but this pressure Christy felt seemed nearly fatal. It had been far too long since she'd let go and it was hard, so very hard to rein in now. She'd beg to be touched if she thought it was the least bit safe to do it now.

"Okay, okay." Bella sounded tired, a bit out of it, but she relaxed her hold on Christy's hair and opened her legs up to Christy. Christy licked and suckled at her slowly while rolling her own hips into the bottom of the bed. Bella jerked a little, startled by the sound of a spring breaking under the pressure of Christy's hips moving, and Christy didn't stop to care she was breaking the bed, she just growled into Bella's sex and pressed again, as more springs gave way. "Oh baby." Bella sounded a little concerned at that point, but Christy closed her lips over her clit and did her best to suck gently, and Bella's head fell back on the pillow with a gasp.

"Yes, stay gentle baby, gentle. Stay gentle." Was a hint that Bella knew she had a dangerous vampire in the bed with her for the first time and she used her voice to try and keep Christy calm. Bella let Christy take her for over an hour like that, just barely keeping control and staying slow, just speaking soothingly whenever Christy growled, or when the bedsprings, or bed leg crumbled, or sheets ripped.

Bella just seemed to collapse at one point and Christy pulled away slowly to see her human lying on a broken bed, skin glistening with sweat and her heart pounding harder than Christy had ever heard a heart pound. "Oh baby." Christy whispered and slowly crawled up to hold her. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Bella whispered in response, proving to still be awake but exhausted. "I can't do any more." Bella whispered again. "I can't, the human body just can't."

"It's okay." Christy cuddled Bella and the throbbing started to ease inside of her.

"What happened?" Bella asked.

"She was listening to us, she heard you taking me and it made her hot." Christy admitted. "I couldn't help her, so she helped herself and I heard it. She's out hunting now."

"Oh god, getting involved with two vampires is really going to be hard to keep up with, isn't it?" Bella let out a breath, clearly trying to calm her pounding heart.

"Did I hurt you?" Christy asked with some alarm when Bella shifted and winced noticeable when she did it.

"I'm fine, I'm just tender." Bella said. She downplayed it, but Christy found her lover sitting at the dining table alone the next morning with a bag of frozen peas pushed up firmly against the crotch of her sweat pants.

"Do you need a doctor?" Christy asked and watched Bella blush.

"I'm just a little swollen, there isn't a need to go through that exam with someone." Bella put the bag of peas on the table as if proving she didn't need them.

"I'm sorry." Christy grimaced as she thought about how she'd gotten into bed with Bella knowing her control wasn't great.

"I'm not." Bella grinned wickedly. "I want to do that again sometime, but maybe not for quite so long." Bella's eyes held a fire to them that proved her words were true.

"I love you." Christy whispered and pulled Bella into a gentle hug, because careful not to shift Bella's position. "If you need anything today tell me. Don't be a martyr, I did this to you."

"Yes you did." Bella made that a sexy purr. Christy knew sex was the furthest thing on Bella's mind at the moment, but she was probably wanting to make sure Christy didn't refuse to touch her after this. Christy wouldn't do that, but she did want to make sure she didn't push Bella too long again.

"You said you couldn't help Tanya last night." Bella asked quietly and her eyes were not quite looking at her. "You didn't because I wasn't there, didn't you?"

"I don't want you feeling left out." Christy said, but even as she was speaking she heard the front door opening.

"But she was left out." Bella sighed heavily. "I shouldn't have dragged you into bed with her in the house."

"She told me she was okay with that, that she understood." Christy paused and was about to tell Bella Tanya was home, but Bella spoke up before she could.

"If she asks for 'help' again, help her if you want to. I did that to her, to you, and it wasn't right to push ahead because I needed you last night. It had to be hard for her to listen in, and I'm sorry you got so worked up, well, not totally sorry since I benefited from it, but that you got that desperate, that needy, I'm sorry. It has to be a kind of torture."

"The good kind of torture." A slight Russian accent, thicker than normal, had Christy glancing to the doorway to see Tanya was back. "It was very good." Tanya reassured Bella with a sexy purr.

"Yes, it was." Christy said softly and shared a look with Tanya that had the blonde looking down with a hint of a shy smile on her lips at what she'd done.

Later that day Christy was in the hall when Tanya walked passed Bella's bedroom for the first time that day. She watched Tanya's eyes widen and her jaw drop as she stared at the devastated bed.

"I ordered a new one, it'll be here tomorrow. I hope that's okay." Christy kind of asked, since it was Tanya paying the bill, but Christy had really trashed Bella's bed.

"You did this with her?"

"I did all the damage."

"With her, with a human in the bed you did this and she's just a little tender. My god Christy if I lost control like this she'd be dead." It sounded like a cross between disbelief and a scolding. "I can't control like this."

"I've never let myself go this much before. I don't think I could have done it in the beginning either." Christy admitted.

"If I'm desperate for it, if I'm that hungry for it, you need to be the one in the bed with me." Tanya said and stared into Christy's eyes. "Promise me that. I can't do this, and if she works me up like this I will hurt her."

"If she wants it to be just the two of you, you have to be honest with her as to why you can't." Christy said slowly. "She'll feel rejected, because she really doesn't understand how hard I work to keep her safe."

"Okay, okay then." Tanya left Bella's room with her head shaking. "My god."

Bella missed that entire 'triad decision' because she was sleeping on the couch. She'd not slept much the night before.

They left for Denali the next day for a week with the rest of the coven and the timing was a bit lousy. It did give Bella enough time to heal up properly, because they didn't make love in Denali at all. Christy did notice Irina giving her sister several searching looks, and Tanya was dragged off to talk with Irina a few times as Christy was sure Tanya was explaining what was happening with them.

"Treat her right." Was all Irina said when they got ready to leave and she stared into Christy's eyes. "If this is just an experiment," There was a hint of a threat to the words.

"I'd never do that to her. I really care about her. We are serious about this." Christy reassured Irina quietly. "It's not typical, but we want to see if it can work. We're trying, but it's not an 'experiment'."

"I hope it works, she is usually so tentative with giving her heart. You don't know how unusual this is for her to risk it with two people in something that seems so risky to start with." The information made sense, because Tanya was amazing and there had to be a reason she was single before now. It was her, Tanya was doing it herself. Thankfully she was over that now.


	17. Chapter 17

Bella spent the first three days back from Spring break working frantically on a paper she had thought she'd get done in Denali but didn't, and Christy spent that time on a more personal research project. Richard 'Dick' Begay was nearly dropped out of college, but needed the last failing grades from this quarter to drop out completely. Dick lived in an apartment off campus, because he wasn't accepted into the frats he continued to go to the parties of. He was a large man with a tendency towards going to sports games, parties, and bars, based on his bank records, and experience told Christy it was probably with a wealth of drugs in his pockets. He had five classes and he rarely attended any given class more than 50 percent of the time. When skipping class he liked to hang out at a particular bar or if he was actually on campus he would be in the cafeteria checking out the 'pieces of ass' he wanted to make sure knew about the latest parties. He wasn't going to be around campus next year as a student, but Christy would bet money he'd doctor his current student id just enough to be able to hang out and continue to go to the parties while getting a lack luster job in Fairbanks that just made him angrier at the world and probably more brutal. He might even graduate to not drugging women at some point for the excuse to hurt them more if he felt safe enough in not getting caught.

This was the man that thought it would be great fun to try and drug a human drinking vampire and have his way with her. He was seriously outclasses and Christy's spy skills were not rusty at all even after a few years, because she knew everything she'd ever need to know about him for a hit.

"What's that?" Bella asked as she came into the kitchen and looked at the documents Christy had on the table.

"This is how I commit a murder." Christy said casually. "If I'm targeting someone specific and not just running into slime in the streets, this is the homework I do before a hit." Bella let out a small gasp as Christy pulled the file closer. "This is all the information on Mr. 69." She flipped it opened so that his student id picture was the first thing Bella saw. "He looks like an escalating rapist, give him a few years and we'll be looking at a murderer as well, probably in an effort to up the thrill."

"Oh my god. You can tell all of that from this file?" Bella reached out and touched the file, flipping a few pages over to see what Christy had. "How?"

"Mystique had me trained as a profiler of sorts, it's part of what you do when you take over someone else's life, you have to be able to project what they'd do in any situation. It's guesswork, but educated guesswork." Christy looked at Bella and ignored the sudden ringing of the house phone. "Do you still want your final exam now, or do you want to wait until you graduate? I'm going after him while he's still in school and easier to track. There is a big party next weekend and I want him gone before it. He's going to drop out in a few weeks and not be able to continue, he's on financial aid probation and, oddly, it's my job as a college professor that led me to know what he'd end up doing after this quarter."

"Now you're just showing off." Bella muttered and flipped the file open again to look at his face, the face she'd punched hard enough to make him bleed. It was good she'd been drunk, or the blood would have bothered her more.

The phone started ringing again and Christy shared a look with Bella. "You know who it is."

"This is the final step in becoming a vampire? This?" Alice's voice was shrill as Bella answered the phone. "Bella, you're going to hunt a human?"

"Actually in this house we call these things human monsters." Bella said slowly, and moved to sit down.

"I can't go home." Alice said with a huff of shock. "I can't go home now. Oh my god Bella. Why? Why would you agree to do this? You want golden eyes, you've said that, so why this?"

"Because this is my backup diet if animals are scarce." Bella said quietly, looking incredibly pale. "This is my plan B for the future, if humans destroy all the wild lands and the only animals are locked up safe in zoos." Christy reassembled her file and listened in as Bella defended this decision, realizing that it meant Bella was all in for this hunt. "If I ever have to resort to that diet, you'll be there with me Alice."

"Oh my god." Alice let out a long slow breath. "The vision caught me on the way to the mall, and not at the house thankfully, or we'd have had to," Her words trailed off. Christy knew this was about how Edward would respond to knowing this. "Dammit Bella, I really didn't want this for you. Vampire yes, I wanted that, but this,"

"If I can't see myself ever doing this I need to re-evaluate if I can be turned Alice. If the world continues as it has been, the golden eyed ones will have to convert and if I can't do this I really need to think about this." Bella knew why they did this, but she sounded a bit broken and Christy felt bad that Bella had to do this, still she had to think ahead. "I'm going to want this bastard dead, it'll be easier to take. I know he's guilty, he tried to drug Christy, and she has all this intel on him. He's dangerous and she'll be killing him whether I'm there or not, but this is one man I know is guilty and I won't have to see what he does like I would if this was a typical hunt. She'll control everything and it'll be safe."

"Ask Alice if she needs a place to stay while we do this. We don't need a 'rescue' party for that asshole. She won't be able to keep this a secret." Christy said as she stood up and moved to put the file on the counter and opened up the fridge to find Bella some juice or something. Her coloring wasn't looking too good.

"Answer my phone calls faster when you're doing this. I'll watch out for you." Alice said with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to go to New York, spontaneous shopping trip. I'll call the house with it after we hang up. Good luck."

"Thank you Alice." Bella said, her voice tight and Christy moved behind her to hold her in a hug.

Alice was going to be in trouble after this, her coven might have the largest fight its ever had when she gets home. "If she needs a place to stay, ever, she's welcome here or in Denali." Christy offered quietly just into Bella's ear.

Bella nodded, and took a deep breath. "We'll do this, but please, please, don't let him bleed all over you like the deer did. I might actually pass out if that happens."

"We'll bring you a sick bag this time."

It went like clockwork. Wherever Alice was, watching this, she had no job to do. Bella was no where near her pick up point, where Christy tricked 'Dick' into following her outside where without ever even talking to him, no one would connect the two of them. She let him 'stalk her' into an alley and then turned it around and the attacker became the attacked. He was unconscious and in her arms as she ran over a few rooftops and into the woods in mere minutes.

Tanya carried Bella to the meeting point and they watched Christy bite the man and kill him. They also watched her disguise the wounds and that was when Bella threw up. Tanya had dark eyes and wasn't breathing as Christy fed. Bella held onto Tanya tight as they made their way to the car kept a couple miles away and left.

"How did you get him?" Bella asked quietly after they'd driven a few blocks.

"He thought he drugged me and was tracking me to grab me and rape me once I was away from the busy streets." Christy said and watched some color and anger return to Bella's features at that.

That was the first night Bella asked Christy to brush her teeth after a hunt, and it was disgusting and the toothbrush fell apart on her sharp teeth, but Christy did it without complaining. Tanya made sure to complain for her, telling Bella how gross that would taste to them and that the venom took care of any contaminants.

She made her way back downstairs to the others after spitting out as much of the taste of toothpaste as she could and she had to carefully pick bristles out of her mouth. "My teeth are too sharp to brush." Christy said with a hint of a smile and held up the pieces of the toothbrush for Bella to see. "I managed, but I might be picking plastic out of my mouth for a while."

It wasn't that funny, but Bella burst into nervous laughter and Christy shared a concerned look with Tanya as the laughter started up tears. "Oh my god, I can't believe we did that."

"You saw a man die today, you didn't do anything to cause it or to help it, and what you didn't see was that he has been to at least a party a month since he started at this college, and there are probably at least six girls on the campus, or that have dropped out, that were raped by that man. It might even be someone in one of our classes. Women that woke up not knowing more about what happened to them than they were raped, at least once, but they have no idea who did it. Women who probably look around their classes at the men in there, hoping not to see a leer, or some hint that he was the one to do it. If I'd taken you on a regular hunt you would have gotten to see the victim and it would be easier to take, but I am asking you to trust me, there were victims."

"I know you're right, I do." Bella hugged her and held her tight. Christy wrapped her arms around Bella and looked over her shoulder at Tanya, who was watching this quietly.

"Are you okay?" Christy asked Tanya and Bella turned quickly to hold a hand out to the blonde vampire. It was the oddest after 'hit' thing she'd ever done, Christy found herself as part of a group hug.

…..

Bella looked very comfortable laying on the couch watching some documentary about the evolution of humans. The human was in her night shirt already, and it fell to her knees, so her legs looked a little cold. Christy went back down the hall and pulled a throw blanket out of the hall closet, before heading back to Bella. "I come bearing gifts." Christy said and held up the soft blanket.

"Well then, if you have gifts I guess I could let you sit on the couch." Bella teased, and started to sit up, but Christy quickly covered her human with the blanket as she was laying down, and then swiftly lifted Bella's feet and slipped in under them on the couch, letting Bella rest them on her lap.

"Okay, thanks." Bella just gave her a small smile and refocused on her show.

It had been a rough few days with Bella having a few nightmares, and Christy felt bad about that. Her human was starting to recover a bit from seeing that bastard die. One good thing is that Bella didn't start to shy away from Christy after seeing her in action, because that could have happened. Christy was fully aware that the risk had been there, and her trust proved well placed because Bella never pulled away from her.

As they watched the monkeys descend from trees and start to stand upright, Christy got a hint of an evil smile to her lips. Her fingers started to trace circles over Bella's calves gently, keeping her touch below the knee to start. She stopped for a moment to scoot closer to Bella, rested those knees over her lap and shared that evil smile with Bella.

Her human nibbled on her lower lip and was suppressing a smile of her own. "Tanya went to the store. She wanted to buy the latest Sliders season."

Christy smiled at that. "I am not a Slider." She'd had this conversation with Tanya before, about alternate worlds that were vastly different than her own, and her belief that there were worlds with smaller differences, but Christy didn't tend to make small changes. "Kate's idea was cute, but doing 'research' like this is wasting her time."

"I think she just likes the show now." Bella sat up and gave Christy a gentle kiss on her lips before laying back down. "But it is fascinating, what you can do. You can't blame anyone for wanting to explore that."

"Okay, fine, but if Kate calls me Quinn one more time I get to rip her arm off." Christy pretended to negotiate.

"That's fine dear." Bella gave her a distracted sounding agreement with a hint of a smile and then refocused on the TV. After a few more minutes Christy returned to her gentle circles over Bella's calves, but after a few minutes of that she moved the caresses above the knees. She was gently pushing the sleep shirt up to expose more flesh to her touch, while keeping her human covered with the blanket that was over both of them at this point.

They had a nice deep couch, one that made it easy to lay on it, and at this moment it was wonderful, because even with Bella's legs in her lap, Christy could sit back far enough on that couch to give Bella enough room to spread her legs. Christy traced the lightest of touches over the panties that covered Bella's body, the pajamas pushed up to her waist under the blanket.

Bella's breathing was coming just a little faster, yet Christy did not rush to escalate things. "You are an evil tease." Bella muttered and Christy just continued to pretend to be watching the show as she moved a finger ever so lightly over Bella's clitoris through the panties, ever to very lightly. Bella's breath caught for a moment.

"Honey, give me some handcuffs and a few hours and I could show you an evil tease, I'm just playing." Christy chuckled when that got a bit of a gasp from her human. "I just want to touch you." Christy said softer. She loved to make Bella's heart pound, to drive her a little crazy. Bella could let go completely, safely, and so Christy sometimes just needed to help her do that.

The show continued and Bella tried to pretend to watch it too, as Christy caressed her. Christy finally reached up and grabbed the panties and helped lift Bella up effortless to pull them down her legs and left them wrapped around her lover's ankles, holding them together in a loose sort of bondage, while she moved her hand back up to the exposed and wet flesh.

Bella was panting a little and moaned softly as the soft touch continued, before Christy slowly penetrated her and curved her fingers up.

"Oh god." Bella gasped.

Slowly, ever so slowly Christy to caress the inside of her lover.

"I love you. Oh god Christy, this is so good." Bella's body tensed for a moment, shaking, but Christy eased up to keep in from ending too soon.

The sound of Tanya's car had Christy frowning. This was going so very well, but they were in the living room. "Honey, can I take you in front of Tanya?" Christy asked as the car came to a park in front of the house, knowing they had moments to make up their mind about what to do.

Her words had Bella arching a bit, so Christy smiled at the proof it was an idea her lover liked. "What, oh god Baby."

"She's coming in, do we stop or keep going?" Christy asked, but she curved her fingers to make it feel better, seeing if Bella's lust would conquer her shyness.

"Don't stop, don't stop." Bella pleaded, but then Christy was hardly playing fair.

"Tanya is going to come in and see you, smell you." Christy said heatedly, but it was also a warning for the vampire she could hear was on the porch, and who had paused suddenly, probably hearing Bella's plea and realizing it wasn't from the bedroom. "She's going to want to taste you."

"Oh god." Bella's voice got louder, more out of control.

The front door opened very quietly and Christy could hear a bag being set on the table, as footsteps came closer at a very slow pace. "Bella, she'd look amazing between your legs. God, so sexy. I want to see that."

"Christy." Bella keened a little, her body tense and Christy still denied her a release, easing up when Christy could see it was close, holding Bella on the edge.

Tanya stood in the doorway, eyes darkening, as she watched Bella squirm on Christy's lap. Bella's head was thrown back and she was breathing heavily. "Tanya." Christy said it loud enough for Bella to hear and Bella tensed up a little at the word, even as Christy was easing up on the touch.

"What are you two doing?" Tanya said with a hint of a smile and then frowned as she say the TV didn't anything resembling porn on it, the cavemen were fighting wild dogs for food.

"I'm touching Bella." Christy said and noticed her human blushing painfully. "Bella?" She asked her human and stared at her until Bella finally could look her in the face. "Please?" Christy moved her fingers inside Bella again to let her know what she wanted. She moved her thumb over the apex of Bella's sex and Bella's breath caught again. Bella didn't object so she did it again. After the fifth time Bella was panting again and moaning.

Tanya was watching this all very intensely.

"I could put my mouth on you." Tanya said softly, as she moved closer to Bella, staring her in the face. Her hand moved out to caress hair out of Bella's face. "I could put my mouth on you." She repeated heatedly. They had not done more than kiss, some petting, but Bella always got shy about more. "Bella please."

"yes, yes. She's torturing me, please." Bella pleaded and took their triad relationship to the next level.

Christy expected to have Bella sit up so Tanya could get to her, she didn't expect that the long couch would fit another woman laying in her lap, as Tanya pulled the blanket up and moved to fit how Christy and Bella were already positioned. Bella's knees had been on Christy's lap, and now so were Tanya's breasts as they pressed down on Christy's thighs and Tanya leaned in gently pulled Christy's fingers away from Bella's sex, before putting her mouth there. Christy had a very front row seat to this and she watched with wide eyes as Bella jerked at the first touch of lips.

Christy did reach down and freed one of Bella's legs from her panties so her legs could spread apart more, and did the best she could to ignore her own throbbing as this went into new territory. Her hand, having nothing to do anymore, moved over Tanya's back, gently cupped Tanya through her pants and felt the way Tanya pushed back into her hand. It was an invitation to touch, and so Christy moved her slow torturous caresses to Tanya, over her pants, as they were still on. She caressed a bit firmer to make up for that.

Bella was clearly almost there and Christy watched her human's eyes widened and the way Bella tried to stare at Christy as if asking if this was okay, to come this hard with Tanya. Christy just smiled at Bella worrying about her feelings at a time like this. Christy reached out and took Bella's hand, holding it as Bella screamed out in pleasure. Tanya had some skills. Bella held onto Christy tightly as her body writhed. "No more, can't take more." Bella finally pleaded and Tanya shifted on Christy's lap to look up at Bella. "Oh god Tanya."

They kissed, and then Tanya moved to stand on her knees, pulling away from Bella and pulled Christy into a passionate, needy kiss where Christy could taste Bella on her. Christy couldn't understand the words, they were in some other old language, but the intent was clear in Tanya's body. Tanya wanted to take Christy as well, right now.

"I can buy Christy a new shirt." Bella offered helpfully, with a hint of an evil smile on her lips, just a fraction of a second before Christy heard the ripping. "She wants you to hold her down. She wants to beg." Bella continued as she sat up to watch them, but the humans legs were still tangled up in them. Bella proved to understand the tenseness of Christy's body, by pulling them free and Bella sat on the edge of the couch, her back against the couch arm as she watched. "Rough, be a little rough with her, I never can be rough enough."

"Oh God." Christy gasped out as Tanya picked her up and almost slammed her down on the living room floor, getting them a little further from the fragile human for this. "Yes, please." A mouth moved over her exposed breasts and Christy's pants ripped as Tanya grabbed the fabric at the crotch and just ripped it off, leaving Christy exposed in a strange way, as only her sex felt the air of the room. Tanya was not waiting to get anyone naked, she was claiming while she could. Christy wondered, for just a second if Tanya was in a rush because she was afraid someone might change their mind if it took too long.

"Let go, you won't hurt me." Tanya told her after Christy found herself trying to hold still. "Thrash, scream, you aren't getting away." Christy did move, she strained against the hold on her, even though she didn't want to escape, and she managed to cry as well. Bella kept her distance, but her heart pounded.

"She likes it when I bite." Bella would add at moments, participating in words. Tanya didn't bite hard, it was a token of a bite really, not breaking skin. Bella was really only able to bite Christy because she wasn't a vampire and it was something only the human would be able to do, but Tanya followed the few directions Bella gave, which got better as Bella shared how Christy was desperate to be held down and taken, desperate to let go. "Christy, you look so hot like this." Bella added as Christy's body bucked up and she just managed not to scream. Her lovers didn't understand that Christy would never scream during sex, and it had everything to do with wanting to stay with them and a portal would be the last thing they all needed now.

Bella joined them on the floor once Christy stopped moving so quickly, and Tanya relaxed her hold. Bella shared a kiss with Tanya, while gently tugging off her pajamas. The vampires were much more gentle when Bella joined them, but it was still amazing and Christy fell sated, truly sated, between them both when they were done, Tanya hooked the throw blanket and tossed it over them to keep Bella warm as they laid still for a while in each other's arms.

….

A few days after they had all been together for the first time things started to settle into a new, more confident and sexual relationship in the house. They were sharing Bella's bed and the living room floor often. The living room floor was more durable, but they had to bring pillows for Bella.

Alice must have returned to her house a week after the hunt, because Christy got another call from Rosalie at that time. "You took her hunting, your kind of hunting?" Rosalie asked in a shocked sounding voice.

"She had to be willing to see that to be turned, because there aren't a lot of vampires that never kill anyone." Christy said and glanced out the window. Tanya had gone to pick Bella up from work, because the human's truck was in the shop again.

"Edward had a cow, said you're turning Bella into a monster." Christy found herself wondering if Edward were just talking about the hunt, or if he'd seen visions about the three of them making love and it was upsetting him as well. She was seriously considering teaching Alice how to block telepathy now. She should have thought about it sooner, but she wasn't sure it would work. She'd overheard lessons at the school, but she never had to try and keep people out herself. Still, if Edward were getting to see Bella this way, it was time to work with Alice, and probably Tanya, to keep him from watching her lovers and her through others.

"Well actually, the idea is if she can't see that and accept it at some level she would change her mind about being turned. For someone with the idea she should say no, he doesn't really think about giving her solid reasons to say no."

"Who did you kill in front of her?" Rosalie asked quietly.

"A serial rapist operating on campus who was actually stupid enough to target me." Christy said just as quietly.

"And?"

"And Bella still wants to be turned after college."

"She'll make a lovely vampire." Rosalie said distractedly after a long silence. "I mean if she can do everything you had her do," Rosalie trailed off. "She really knows what she's doing doesn't she? She is really serious about this."

"She had kept an open mind, she's learned as much as she could before making the decision. I honestly made it harder on her than was needed, as if I was trying to scare her away from this. She wants it and I know she'll be amazing. Her control will be amazing and she has a strength now that is just growing. She has all the tools needed to make this decision. I can look at her objectively, I love her and think the world of her, but I have had my eyes open the entire time and she's growing so fast right now it shocks me. I started dating a girl, and I'm with a woman now."

"Humans do grow fast." Rosalie sighed.

"In two more years she could very well be coven leader material." Christy admitted. "And we'll have to shift and change as a coven to make room for her."

"Two more years then?"

"The summer after graduation, so we can get in one more vacation. She will sparkle and our trips to the sunny places will have to end."

"Unless you borrow our island getaway." Rosalie offered gently. "We go to an island off of South America to be in the sun. You could borrow it."

"Thanks, but somehow I don't think everyone will agree to that one." Christy said while thinking about the other Cullens.

"Edward is being an ass, but it's a different level of ass. I think whatever you did this past week, he's letting go of his tiny little dream that Bella will wake up and leave you. He screamed and yelled, but Jasper wasn't in pain like the other times he's lost it. Bella being able to see a man killed has to wake him up to the fact that Bella's changed already, and that biting her will just complete that change, not start it."

…..


End file.
